the emperor´s new clothes recordkeeping in a...
TRANSCRIPT
Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Sundsvall 2013
‘THE EMPEROR´S NEW CLOTHES’
RECORDKEEPING IN A NEW CONTEXT
Maria Kallberg
Supervisors:
Karen Anderson
Göran Samuelsson
Faculty of Science, Technology, and Media
Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden
ISSN 1652-893X
Mid Sweden University Doctoral Thesis 175
ISBN 978-91-87557-21-7
i
Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av Mittuniversitetet i Sundsvall
framläggs till offentlig granskning för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen
torsdag, 12 december, 2013, klockan 10.15 i sal Sigma, Mittuniversitetet Härnösand.
Seminariet kommer att hållas på engelska.
’THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES’
RECORDKEEPING IN A NEW CONTEXT
Maria Kallberg
© Maria Kallberg, 2013
Department of Archives and Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Technology,
and Media
Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall
Sweden
Telephone: +46 (0)771-975 000
Printed by Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden, 2013
ii
To Hanna and Sebastian
iii
iv
’THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES’ RECORDKEEPING IN A NEW CONTEXT
Maria Kallberg
Department of Archives and Computer Science
Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden
ISSN 1652-893X, Mid Sweden University Doctoral Thesis 175; ISBN 978-91-87557-
21-7
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines if and how information capture and documentation practices
and the function of the public archive are changing in relation to archival concepts
in contemporary administrative settings, as a result of e-government strategic
development. The study aims for a holistic approach from the beginning of the life
of the records to their long-term preservation.
This research is situated in Sweden where the recordkeeping legislation takes a
holistic approach: records management is understood as a dimension of the
archival function and therefore records managers have not been recognised as a
professional group, however recordkeeping practice involves two occupational
groups: registrars and archivists. Swedish recordkeeping legislation is based on
long administrative traditions in which the public right of free access to official
documents is fundamental. Registration of official documents is important as the
means of facilitating the citizens´ right to free access information and registrars are
primarily responsible for this process, including classification. Archivists manage
the full range of recordkeeping tasks, acting not only as custodians of repositories
but also strategic experts on recordkeeping as well as auditing on behalf of the
archival authority. The archive legally consists of all the ‘official documents’
created or received in the organisation.
This is an explorative and documented case study that used several local
government bodies (municipalities) for the data collection by document analysis
and interviews. Swedish municipalities are particularly interesting because they
are autonomous in relation to the national government, with complex
organisational structures consisting of several politically controlled committees
and administrative departments that implement political decisions and provide
services to the public. The National Archives does not have any supervisory role or
v
monitoring function over local governments, but it does publish guidelines on
recordkeeping. Nevertheless, the municipalities are controlled to a large extent by
the implemented policies decided at national level by the Government and
Parliament. Therefore, national initiatives regarding e-government have impacted
on the municipalities’ recordkeeping.
A theoretical lens combining archival science and theory of professions has
been chosen to analyse the observed changes in practice. The thesis analyses the
issue of recordkeeping awareness in three arenas: the legal arena; the political
arena; and the workplace arena in the light of the records continuum model.
The research findings demonstrate a gap between the legal and workplace
arenas caused by lack of recordkeeping awareness primarily within the political
arena. Despite the holistic view of keeping archives expressed in the recordkeeping
legislation, observed practice appears closer to a life cycle model than proactive
continuum thinking and planning. A lack of recordkeeping legislation awareness
in the wider organisation is potentially leading to a division between records
management and archives management, jeopardising the continuum approach.
Consequently registrars may in the future become more like records managers and
archivists may be losing part of their professional jurisdiction. There is a strong
focus on business benefits to the organisation rather than the wider view of
democratic values and cultural heritage. As a result: archivists seem to suffer a lack
of resources as well as skills in order to carry out their responsibilities. The future
role of archival authorities such as the National Archives is unclear.
Keywords: recordkeeping, e-government, recordkeeping awareness, information
management, continuum, public archive, archivists, registrars, local government,
Sweden
vi
SAMMANDRAG
Just nu pågår en omdaning av den offentliga förvaltningskostymen för att möta
politiska mål vad gäller utveckling av den offentliga sektorn med stöd av
informationsteknologi. Denna avhandling undersöker konsekvenserna av en sådan
ambition genom att använda den nuvarande offentlighets- och arkivlagstiftning
som en referenspunkt i syfte att undersöka vad, varför och hur implementeringen
sker. I Sverige utgör de allmänna handlingarna myndighetens arkiv och skall
enligt rådande arkivlagsstiftning vårdas och förvaltas så att de tillgodoser behov
rörande offentlighetsinsyn, rättskipning, förvaltning och forskningen. Det finns en
lång förvaltningstradition och reglering kring registrering av allmänna handlingar
relaterat till offentlighetsinsynen. Myndigheternas arkiv är per definition en del av
det nationella kulturarvet. Allmänna handlingar är teknikoberoende, vilket medför
att oavsett om handlingarna är pappersbundna eller digitala omfattas dessa av
samma regelverk. Avhandlingen söker besvara frågan: Hur medvetna är offentliga
organisationer om vikten av att hantera sina allmänna handlingar i det pågående
e-förvaltningsarbetet på ett sådant sätt att de uppfyller kraven i offentlighets- och
arkivlagstiftningen samt hur påverkas arkivariers och registratorers professionella
status (positioner och arbetsutövning) inom organisationerna? Vidare analyseras
relationen mellan nya strategiska initiativ avseende informationsfångst och
arkivlagstiftningen.
Avhandlingen förenar arkivvetenskap och professionsteori. En teoretisk
analysmodell har skapats för analys av tre arenor: den legala, den politiska och
arbetsplatsarenan vad gäller medvetenheten om de legala kraven gällande
offentlighets- och arkivlagstiftningen. Förändringar avseende styrnings- och
kontrollsystem på legal och politisk arena kan få konsekvenser, dels för synen på
vad som definieras som arkiv, dels för professionerna (arkivarier och registratorer)
på arbetsplatsarenan. Om professionerna minskar jurisdiktionen, dvs. länken
mellan professionen och arbetet, riskerar de att bli marginaliserade.
Avhandlingen baseras på fallstudier i svenska kommuner. Kommuner utgör till
följd av den kommunala självstyrelsen inkluderande arkivorganisationen och
mångfacetterande och komplexa organisationsstruktur intressanta studieobjekt.
Datainsamlingen har skett via analys av dokument och intervjuer.
Forskningsresultatet tyder på att det råder ett gap mellan den legala och
verkställande arenan beroende på att de legala kraven inte beaktas tillräckligt på
den politiska arenan, vilket i sin tur kan få konsekvenser för arkivets roll i
samhället, inte minst när det gäller rättssäkerhet och demokrati. Arkivarier och
registratorer finns företrädesvis representerade i hanteringen av traditionell arkiv-
vii
och dokumenthantering. Resurser liksom kompetens saknas dock när det gäller att
arbeta strategiskt med e-förvaltningsfrågor. Omedvetenhet på politisk och
verkställighetsnivå om vikten av att arbeta proaktivt med arkivfrågor resulterar i
att professionerna exkluderas. Tillsyn kan ses som ett verktyg för att bibehålla och
ytterligare stärka arkivariernas professionella jurisdiktion samt att bidra till en
ökad medvetenhet i organisationerna.
Fokus för e-förvaltningsutvecklingen har främst legat på verksamhetsnytta med
betoning på den interna verksamhetsutvecklingen i organisationen, samt
relationen till den enskilde medborgaren. Nya möjligheter att fånga och använda
information väcker dock frågor kring informationens legala status i relation till
offentlighets- och arkivlagstiftningen. Att strategiskt verka för offentlighetsinsyn
och säkra informationen i ett vidare perspektiv som en del av ett kulturarv tycks
inte ha samma dignitet. Arkivmyndigheternas framtida roll är oklar.
Avhandlingen bidrar med ny kunskap om relationen e-förvaltningen och arkiv-
och informationshantering ur ett praktiskt, legalt och arkivvetenskapligt
perspektiv. Avhandlingen kan därför vara praktiskt användbar på politisk och
verkställighetsnivå när det gäller att öka medvetenheten om dessa frågor i offentlig
sektor. Avhandlingen bidrar även till teoriutveckling inom den arkivvetenskapliga
forskningen genom kombinationen av det teoretiska ramverket med arkivteori och
professionsteori.
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
After serving ten years as a professional archivist, I felt the need for new
knowledge. Actually, I longed for an opportunity to be part of the academic
community. This wish has now come true with the thesis presented here. I am very
honoured and proud to be the first PhD student funded by Härnösand
Municipality in collaboration with Mid Sweden University. Therefore, I would like
to thank my employer Härnösand Municipality, and Fred Nilsson and Agneta
Höglund-Sjölander especially for all the support.
The result presented derives from four years of research conducted within the
Centre of Digital Information Management (CEDIF) at Mid Sweden University.
During this time I have been involved in two research projects; the CEDIF project
and the GOINFO project. First, I would like to thank those who participated in my
research studies. The confidence you showed me when telling me about your
experiences during the interviews provided the basis for answering the research
questions of this thesis. I hope that this thesis will be an inspiration to other
professional archivists and registrars, but also that it will provide public
organisations with an increased awareness of the importance of recordkeeping.
Without funding, this research had not been possible. Therefore, I would like to
thank EU Objective 2, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the
County Administrative Board of Västernorrland, Härnösand Municipality,
Sundsvall Municipality and Mid Sweden University – who all funded this
research.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to both my supervisors Karen
Anderson and Göran Samuelsson for their support and guidance through all the
challenges of writing this thesis. I am grateful that you shared your knowledge and
engagement. I will miss our research meetings!
I am grateful to Torbjörn Kjölstad for introducing me to the field of Archival
Science and the archivist profession, which sparked my interest to later go on to
PhD studies.
I would like to thank the invited opponent Andrew Flinn from the Department
of Information studies at University College London, who gave me valuable
comments at my pre-seminar.
A special thanks to Anneli Sundqvist and Tom Sahlén, whom through a
thorough reading of the manuscript gave valuable comments of significance for the
writing process, and to Lisa Velander for her careful language review.
Being a doctoral student, a dynamic and supportive research environment is of
paramount importance and a requirement to achieve the goal of the PhD studies.
CEDIF and Villa Nybo together with colleagues at the department have created
and provided just that. Therefore, I would like to thank Larsa Nicklasson, Erik
ix
Borglund, Martina Granholm, Håkan Sundberg, Lars Lundin, Ann-Sofie Klareld,
Tove Engvall, Håkan Gustafsson and Anna-Karin Viklund – all of whom are
working at the department, either as fellow researchers or as other colleagues.
Without you all, this would not have been possible!
My doctoral colleagues at Mid Sweden University, and scholars in the wider
archival scientific community, have also contributed with stimulating discussions
during research meetings and conferences.
I also would like to thank Fredrik Bäck and Stefan Berggren at the municipality
archives in Härnösand for ‘taking care of business’, including the records during
this time. Thanks to Helena Unander for support and sharing professional
knowledge.
When writing a thesis like this, one tends to become so involved in the work,
and it is clear that this has not been the most socially rich period of my life.
However, the time spent with my two-legged and four-legged friends gave me
new perspectives on life as well as strength to carry on with my work.
I would like to thank my family for supporting and believing in me. For that I
am deeply grateful. This thesis is dedicated to my children Hanna and Sebastian.
Remember, dreams are important! When given the chance to realise a dream, do
not hesitate, grab it! All my love to both of you!
Finally, I would like to thank my beloved life companion, Abbas, for his
encouragement and patience during these years. It has been a struggle for both of
us to be geographically separated during long periods of time.
Truly, I am delighted to announce that one of my dreams has now come true.
Mission completed!
Härnösand, October 2013
Maria Kallberg
x
PROLOGUE
This thesis is entitled ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’. The title derives from a tale
written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in
1837 in Copenhagen as a fairy tale for children (Wikipedia, 2013a). The tale is a
story about a vain Emperor who cares about nothing except wearing and
displaying clothes. The Emperor hires two weavers who promise him a new suit of
clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid or incompetent. The
Emperor’s ministers cannot see the clothing themselves, but pretend that they can
for fear of appearing unfit for their positions, and the Emperor does the same.
However, during the Emperor’s parade before his subjects, in his new clothes, a
child in the crowd, cries out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all (Andersen,
1980).
The tale has been used as a metaphor by scholars, for example when criticising
the authority’s ambition to transform public organisations without considering the
consequences for the practice and its professionals (see for example: Denvall &
Johansson, 2012).
During the process of writing the cover paper of the thesis presented, an idea
presented itself early on about using the title of the fairy tale described as a
metaphor to illustrate the ongoing change in society, i.e. e-government
development and recordkeeping nexus. In order to do so, it was of course
necessary to identify the fairy tale characters. In this thesis, the character of the
Emperor is represented by the political stakeholders at national and local
government level. The new suit of clothes is reflected by strategic e-government
development initiatives. The Emperor’s ministers are portrayed by the E-
delegation including the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions
(SALAR), and the Swedish National Archives. But, one character remains to be
identified, the most important one, the child who cries out. Well, this character will
not be revealed just yet. Therefore, I now invite you to take part of the story and
find out!
xi
LIST OF PAPERS
This thesis is mainly based on the following six papers, herein referred to by their
Roman numerals:
Paper I Kallberg, M. (2012). ’Taking care of business – but what about the
records?’ A Swedish study of recordkeeping expertise in business
development projects. In M. Procter (Ed.). Comma, vol. 2010-1, (pp.
169-188).
Paper II Kallberg, M. (2011). E-Government development and
recordkeeping: A comparative study of e-government best practice
in Swedish municipalities. In J. Douglas (Ed.), iRMA Information and
Records Management Annual 2010 (pp. 83-94).
Paper III Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists 2.0: Redefining the archivist’s
profession in the digital age. In J. McLeod (Ed.), Records Management
Journal, vol. 22(2), (pp. 98-115).
Paper IV Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists – A profession in transition? In J-C
Smeby (Ed.), Professions & Professionalism, vol. 2(1), (pp. 27-41).
Paper V Kallberg, M. (2013). Issues with contact centres – as a new interface
between public organisations and citizens. In J. McLeod (Ed.).
Records Management Journal, vol. 23(2), (pp. 90-103).
Paper VI Kallberg, M. (2013). ‘Shaping a profession?’ – A new professional
context and changing status for registrars in Sweden. In J. MecLeod
(Ed.). Records Management Journal, vol. 23(3), (forthcoming).
xii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... IV
SAMMANDRAG ............................................................................................................ VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ VIII
PROLOGUE ....................................................................................................................... X
LIST OF PAPERS ............................................................................................................ XI
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION ........................................................................... 1
1.1.1. Challenges Related to E-Government Visions and Recordkeeping ................ 2
1.1.2. Challenges related to Recordkeeping Legislation Awareness ........................ 4
1.2. THE AIM OF THE RESEARCH AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................... 5
1.3. OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ......................................................................................... 7
1.4. INCLUDED PAPERS .................................................................................................. 8
2. THE SWEDISH ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK . 9
2.1. GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE ................................................................................. 9
2.2. RECORDKEEPING LEGISLATION ............................................................................. 11
2.2.1. The Freedom of the Press Act ...................................................................... 11
2.2.2. The Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act ...................................... 12
2.2.3. The Administrative Procedure Act ............................................................... 13
2.2.4. The Archives Act ........................................................................................... 14
2.2.5. The Personal Data Act ................................................................................. 15
2.2.6. The Public Sector Information Act ............................................................... 15
2.2.7. The National Archives Regulations .............................................................. 16
2.3. RECORDKEEPING ORGANISATION AND PROFESSIONS ............................................ 16
2.3.1. Recordkeeping Organisation at National and Local level ........................... 16
2.3.2. Recordkeeping Professions .......................................................................... 17
2.3.3. Reports on the Role and Function of Public Archives .................................. 19
2.4. E-GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT - AN OVERVIEW ................................................ 21
2.4.1. The Impact of the EU.................................................................................... 21
2.4.2. Directives and Reports ................................................................................. 23
2.4.3. Centralised Functions .................................................................................. 25
2.4.4. User Centric Perspective Projects ............................................................... 28
2.4.5. Initiatives at Local Government Level.......................................................... 28
xiii
2.5. CONCLUDING REMARKS ....................................................................................... 29
3. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 30
3.1 CHANGING STATUS AND FUNCTION OF THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE .............................. 31
3.1.1. A Historical Retrospective ............................................................................ 32
3.1.2. The French Revolution – A Starting Point ................................................... 32
3.1.3. The Second World War and the Increasing Volume of Records ................... 33
3.1.4. The Internet, Electronic Information and E-Government ............................ 33
3.2. THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND RECORDKEEPING .......................................................... 34
3.2.1. Democratic Control and Transparency ........................................................ 35
3.2.2. Freedom of Information ............................................................................... 36
3.3. INFORMATION CAPTURE AND DOCUMENTATION PRACTICE .................................. 36
3.3.1. Registration as an Administration Tool ........................................................ 37
3.3.2. Registration as a Business Development and Efficiency Tool ...................... 38
3.4. PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES ................................................................................ 40
3.4.1. An Ambiguity and a Diversity of Recordkeeping Professions ...................... 41
3.4.2. The Impact of Electronic Recordkeeping ..................................................... 45
3.4.3. The Issue of Education ................................................................................. 46
3.4.4. The Impact of New Public Management ....................................................... 47
3.5. RECORDKEEPING AWARENESS.................................................................... 49
3.5.1. Recordkeeping Awareness - A Definition ..................................................... 49
3.5.2. Related Research .......................................................................................... 50
3.5.2.1. New Zealand ............................................................................................ 50
3.5.2.2. The United Kingdom ............................................................................... 50
3.5.2.3. Finland .................................................................................................... 51
3.5.2.4. Sweden ..................................................................................................... 52
3.6. CONCLUDING REMARKS ....................................................................................... 53
4. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................ 54
4.1. RESEARCH APPROACH .......................................................................................... 55
4.2. THE RESEARCH SETTING: LOCAL GOVERNMENTS – MUNICIPALITIES ................... 55
4.2.1. Historical Development ................................................................................ 56
4.2.2. Obligations and Organisational Structure ................................................... 57
4.2.3. Recordkeeping Practice ............................................................................... 60
4.3. RESEARCH DESIGN................................................................................................ 62
4.3.1. Case Studies ................................................................................................. 62
4.3.2. The Cases Selected ....................................................................................... 63
4.4. DATA COLLECTION METHODS AND RESEARCH TOOLS ......................................... 68
xiv
4.4.1. Interviews and Interview Schedules ............................................................. 69
4.4.2. Documents .................................................................................................... 70
4.4.3. Literature ...................................................................................................... 71
4.5. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 71
4.5.1. Induction and Deduction .............................................................................. 71
4.5.2. The Analysis Process .................................................................................... 72
4.6. THE RESEARCH PROCESS ...................................................................................... 74
4.7. RESEARCH QUALITY ............................................................................................. 80
5. THEORETICAL AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................... 82
5.1. CAPTURE THE COMPLEXITY AND CHANGING BOUNDARIES AND IDEAS OF THE
WORLD .............................................................................................................. 82
5.2. POSTMODERNISM AS AN INFLUENCE ..................................................................... 85
5.3. THE MANIFESTATION OF RECORDS - AS IMPARTIAL EVIDENCE OR AS
INFLUENCED BY SOCIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND JURIDICAL FACTORS ................. 86
5.4. THE LIFE CYCLE AND CONTINUUM VIEWS ON RECORDKEEPING .......................... 88
5.5. PROFESSIONS’ CLAIM OF JURISDICTION ................................................................ 93
5.6. RECORDKEEPING CONSCIOUSNESS ........................................................................ 96
5.7. ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR RECORDKEEPING AWARENESS .................................... 98
6. SUMMARY OF INCLUDED PAPERS ............................................................... 101
6.1. PAPER 1 – ‘TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS – BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RECORDS?’ A
SWEDISH STUDY OF RECORDKEEPING EXPERTISE IN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS (KALLBERG, 2011) ............................................................................. 101
6.2. PAPER 2 – E-GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT AND RECORDKEEPING: A
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF E-GOVERNMENT BEST PRACTICE IN SWEDISH
MUNICIPALITIES (KALLBERG, 2011) ................................................................... 102
6.3. PAPER 3 – ARCHIVISTS 2.0: REDEFINING THE ARCHIVIST´S PROFESSION IN THE
DIGITAL AGE (KALLBERG, 2012) ........................................................................ 104
6.4. PAPER 5 – ARCHIVISTS – A PROFESSION IN TRANSITION? (KALLBERG, 2012) .... 105
6.5. PAPER 5 – ISSUES WITH CONTACT CENTRES – AS A NEW INTERFACE BETWEEN
PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND CITIZENS (KALLBERG, 2013) ............................... 106
6.6. PAPER 6 – ‘SHAPING A PROFESSION?’ – A NEW PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT AND
CHANGING STATUS FOR REGISTRARS IN SWEDEN (KALLBERG, 2013) ................ 108
7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................... 109
xv
7.1. PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF
RECORDKEEPING LEGISLATION DEMANDS IN STRATEGIC E-GOVERNMENT
WORK ............................................................................................................ 111
7.2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DOCUMENTATION PRACTICES AND
RECORDKEEPING LEGISLATION AWARENESS WITHIN A NEW CONTEXT OF
INFORMATION CAPTURE ..................................................................................... 112
7.3. THE STATUS OF RECORDKEEPING PROFESSIONALS IN PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS . 115
7.4. CONCLUDING REMARKS ..................................................................................... 117
7.4.1. From Continuum to Life Cycle ................................................................... 117
7.4.2. Different Needs and Use of Information..................................................... 119
7.4.3. Focus on Individual Citizens ...................................................................... 120
7.4.4. Less Jurisdiction for Archivists .................................................................. 120
7.5. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................... 122
7.6. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION ................................................................................. 122
7.7. FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................................................................. 124
EPILOGUE ....................................................................................................................... 125
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 126
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background and Motivation
The Government is continuing with work aimed at creating a simpler
everyday existence for private individuals and businesses and more efficient
public administration. A number of important e-government projects will
continue to be undertaken (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011b, p. 7).
Archives have been created for as long as there has been a need to keep
information. Public organisations archives are no exception. However, it has
always been the rulers of society who have defined the framework of the
recordkeeping practice (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 57). The legislation determines the
frames, i.e. what records are needed to fulfil the legislative requirements (Iacovino,
2005). Archives are important for democratic control and transparency (Eastwood,
2002). Therefore, authentic records are fundamental for organisational, collective
and personal accountability, i.e. equivalent to transparency, openness,
responsibility and trust (Iacovino, 2010, pp. 181-182).
E-government development is a highly prioritised political issue and will affect
documentation practices and the function of the archive in relation to archival
concepts. In the light of e-government development, public authorities claim to
improve their core business by using information technology to become more
productive and effective by for example implementing e-services, crossing
organisational as well as national borders, exchanging information between
systems, integrating systems and centralising functions involved in information
capture. Within this study the term ‘e-government’ is defined as just that: a form of
business development, through which authorities continue to improve their core
business by using information technology (IT) to become more productive and
effective. The term is also used to describe state administration, the use of IT to
exchange information and services with citizens, businesses and other part of the
administration (SOU 2009:86, p. 31). Hence, optimal e-government require a
holistic view on the information processes, from creation to long-term preservation
in order to make the information accessible, authentic and trusted as long as
needed.
This development challenges the archival body of knowledge regarding how to
understand and manage archives. So far, there have been few research studies
within archival science that has addressed this ongoing development and
implementation. What is of special interest is not the digital technology in itself,
rather it is the states and their stakeholders’ ambition to use digital technology to
capture information for purposes other than the traditional ones, for example to
improve internal organisational efficiency and quality, but still arguing a focus on
the benefit for the citizens. Consequently, the possibility to capture information
2
support or could initiate new needs and demands of documentation practices and
use of archives.
The study presented is based on a national context, Sweden, in which the
recordkeeping legislation corresponds to McKemmish definition as including
records and archives management activities, i.e. the managing of records from
their creation during their whole existence, in order to render “accessibility of
meaningful records for as long as they are of value to people, organizations, and
societies – whether that is for a nanosecond or millennia” (McKemmish, 2001, p.
336). In this study the ‘archive’ is defined as the public organisation’s official
documents (SFS 1990:782). However, the role of archival authorities will also be
discussed.
This chapter seeks to outline a background and a motivation description to
clarify the importance of the research presented, followed by a presentation of the
research aim and the research questions formulated. The chapter concludes with a
description of the disposition of the thesis and the included papers.
1.1.1. Challenges Related to E-Government Visions and Recordkeeping
In order to illustrate challenges caused by the difference between e-government
visions and the reality of recordkeeping practice Sweden will be used as an
example. In addition, the Swedish national legal context is of interest from a
continuum theoretical perspective, since the archival legislation uses ‘archive’ as a
legal concept which includes ‘records’, or rather the Swedish concept: ‘official
documents’ ([Swedish Code of Statutes] SFS 1990:782; Fact sheet JU00.14e, 2000).
Official documents within this study are seen as equivalent to records. Sweden has
a long history of freedom of information legislation since 1766 (Gränström,
Lundquist, & Fredriksson, 2000, p. 43) and well established documentation
practices to meet the legislative requirements (SFS 1990:782; SFS 2009:400). Public
records shall immediately be registered in order to be identified to facilitate for all
who wish to read them. Records can be classified as secret, but nevertheless they
should be registered (SFS 2009:400).
In Sweden e-government development has been a prioritised political issue for
several years, which is also the case in many other countries. The Swedish
Government identifies Sweden as having an important leading role in the
European Union’s e-government agenda. Therefore, the Swedish Digital Agenda
will correspond to the objectives in the Digital Agenda for Europe as well as
contribute to achieving the objectivities of the Europe 2020 strategy (Government
Offices of Sweden, 2011a). In order to exemplify one of the e-government visions
the following quotation has been chosen, retrieved from a publication on the
Digital Agenda for Sweden published by the Government Offices in 2011:
3
Public administration
A simpler everyday life for individuals and businesses and more
efficient public administration.
Strategic challenges
The Government is continuing with its work on creating a simpler
everyday existence for individuals and businesses in which actors in the
public and private sectors will be put in a better position to create
services that, for instance through automation and self-service, meet the
needs of people and businesses in different situations. Government will
collaborate by sharing and re-using information to bring about reduced
disclosure of data for businesses, local authorities and individuals. […]
The digitisation of society is creating an expectation that the public
sector will be able to supply services in just as simple and effective a
way as private service providers. This is crucial but resource demanding
work that necessitates information management and collaboration across
organisational boundaries. The challenges faced include funding issues
and differences in regulations and technical standards. […]
Actions
A number of strategic e-government projects will continue to be
undertaken. These projects are intended to simplify everyday life for
individuals and businesses, while also leading to savings for central
government as a whole. They relate in particular to government-wide
services and services linked to the core operation. […] Standardised
services and interfaces in administration create opportunities for both
the private and public sectors to develop new services (Government
Offices of Sweden, 2011b, pp. 26-27).
In the quotation the public administration is identified as a service that create
benefit and is therefore of paramount importance for the Swedish strategic e-
government work. In addition to the publication of the Digital Agenda, the
Swedish Minister for Information Technology and Energy held a presentation of
the Swedish e-government strategy on Monday 17 December 2012. The
presentation was broadcasted on the web and published at the web page of the
Government Offices of Sweden (Ministry of Enterprise; Energy; and
Communications, 2012). The quality and efficiency in governmental authorities
work will be increased by using public information via standardised information
management, improved information security and e-services. The publication of
public information will increase public transparency and participation by the use
of the Internet and social media. This will be achieved through government
coordination and prioritisation of joint e-government development projects. The
establishment of the National Service Centre in 2012 is an achievement in
transforming structures in which government offer their services government to
government. The centre provides and manages digital services such as payroll,
4
financial management and e-procurement (Swedish National Service Centre, 2012).
During the minister’s presentation of the Swedish e-government strategy (Ministry
of Enterprise; Energy; and Communications, 2012) a statement was made which I
found particularly interesting, since it may indicate a turning point for the
National Archives’ mission:
The National Service Centre will now have a mandate to proceed with,
what is called, e-Archive and e-Registry, which of course is all about
digitizing them (Swedish Minister for Information Technology and
Energy December 17th 2012).
The statement above is interesting since the minister has given a mandate to a
recently established governmental agency to develop a national recordkeeping
function, rather than giving this mandate to the National Archives, even though
the National Archives is one of the oldest governmental authorities with roots all
the way back to 1618 (Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 47), with responsibilities for
supervision, regulation of recordkeeping and the long-term preservation of public
records delivered from the national government agencies (SFS 1990:782).
1.1.2. Challenges related to Recordkeeping Legislation Awareness
Another interesting issue which illustrates a possible change for Swedish
recordkeeping practice is a proposal (motion) tabled in the Swedish Parliament
‘Riksdag’ about modernising the archives legislation. The motion was written in
2012 by two members of the Riksdag. The motion was motivated as follows: the
Archives Act sets out the basic regulations on recordkeeping for central and local
government authorities. However, today paper-based records have been replaced
by electronic records and therefore the two members found the Archives Act
outdated and excessive (Zander & Källström, 2012). As a researcher I found this
argument very interesting since the current Archives Act is in fact media-neutral
and focuses on records entities of a broader archive concept, consequently a
holistic definition (SFS 1990:782).
In contrast to the ongoing e-government strategic efforts, there are still
recordkeeping issues related to legislative requirements concerning registry which
is in need of improvement. For example, the Swedish Committee on the
Constitution prepares matters concerning the Constitution and legislation of a
constitutional and general administrative nature. The assignment to scrutinise the
work of the Government and its ministers and informing the Riksdag about the
result is furthermore carried out by the Swedish Committee on the Constitution
(SFS 1974:152). As a result of scrutiny the Swedish Committee on the Constitution
published a report in 2012 on the work of the government and its ministers’
handling of governmental matters (2012: 2012/13:KU10). The report presented the
result of an examination of the handling of governmental secrecy classified
5
documents within in the Government Offices. There were three departments
included in the examination: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs and the Ministry for Rural Affairs. The examination included registration of
the documents at the departments, the public´s right to access journals, the use of
secrecy classification marks and the decision process for information retrieval in
order to meet the public’s right to access official documents. The examination was
motivated as essential given the public´s fundamental right to access official
documents. This right is stated in Freedom of the Press Act (SFS 1949:105), which is
one of the four fundamental laws in the Swedish Constitution (SFS 1974:152). A
basic prerequisite for this right to work as intended is that the public will have the
knowledge about the official documents held by the public authority, i.e. a well-
functioning registry is essential. The report given by the Swedish Committee on
the Constitution was overall critical and observed the following deficiencies: The
journal of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs did not meet the legislative
requirements on registration of official documents; there were discrepancies in the
design of the confidentiality markings; the individual should always be informed
of the possibility of requesting an authority to reconsider where a request for
disclosure of access is not met; and finally criticism was raised about the
importance to not conduct routine-based disclosure of access decisions (Swedish
Committee on the Constitution, 2012).
1.2. The Aim of the Research and Research Questions
Given the background and motivation outlined, the overall aim of this study is to
capture and analyse an ongoing change in society, i.e. e-government development
and recordkeeping nexus. The study will contribute to an archival scientific
theoretical analysis of the e-government implementation impact on documentation
practices and the function of the archive in changing contemporary public
organisations. The following research questions will be addressed in the study:
RQ1. How aware are public organisations of the importance of
recordkeeping legislative demands in their strategic e-government
work?
RQ2. What is the relationship between documentation practices and
recordkeeping legislation awareness within a new context of
information capture?
RQ3. What is the status of recordkeeping professionals (archivists and
registrars), e.g. positions and practice within public organisations?
6
The first research question is formulated bearing in mind that it is the legislation of
each nation that stipulates what records are needed to fulfil the legislative
requirements (Iacovino, 2005). This study uses a national context (Sweden) which
has a holistic recordkeeping legislation with long traditions regarding how to
organise documentation practices in order to support the legislation. According to
the recordkeeping legislation there is no distinction between records management
and archive management: the records are defined as the public organisations
archive (SFS 1990:782). The research question is formulated to examine whether the
public organisations are aware of the recordkeeping legislation stipulated, and if
this is taken into consideration and applied in their e-government implementation
ambitions.
The second research question is formulated to examine possible changes
regarding the concept and function of the archive due to e-government strategic
ambitions defined by the state and their stakeholders in order to improve internal
and external organisational efficiency and quality.
As a result of the Swedish recordkeeping tradition there has not been an
established records management profession, which lead to the formulation of the
third research question. In Sweden the recordkeeping practice is associated with
two occupations: registrars and archivists. Registrar ‘registrator’ is the most
common occupational term for persons employed to handle the public
organisations journal, the ‘diarium’ (Larsson, 2001). In accordance with the
legislation, official documents shall immediately be registered so they can be
identified for release or classification (SFS 2009:400). In addition to registration,
registrars work with day-to-day operational management tasks. The work of the
registrar has changed from being overall operative to becoming more strategic and
coordinating as a result of electronic recordkeeping. However, they often lack
higher education. Archivists often work with a range of tasks, from custodians of
repositories to strategic experts on recordkeeping. Archivist can serve archival
authorities at local and national level as well as public organisations. Archivists
have a long tradition of higher education. Registrars are, except for archivists, the
primary users of records as well as the journal (Sundqvist, 2009). Even though
there is no distinction between records and archives according to the legislation, it
is interesting to analyse changes due to e-government ambitions in order to
establish whether this affects the professional roles of registrars and archivists.
Instead of the current holistic archives definition, which appeals to continuum
thinking (Upward, 2005), a life cycle view might be established. A life cycle view
will result in challenges for recordkeeping in terms of how to secure access to
information, e.g. a development which in fact is contrary to the e-government
ambitions to access and reuse of information in order to meet efficiency and quality
measurements. Therefore, a lack of recordkeeping legislation awareness might
indicate such a development.
7
The research presented will have multiple contributions: it seeks to contribute
to how documentation practices/recordkeeping activities should be organised and
implemented to promote effective recordkeeping which also adds value to future
e-government development in public organisations. Secondly, the overall
theoretical endeavour for archival science is to deliver an analytical framework to
enrich and deepen the concept and function of the archive due to societal changes.
Finally, it will contribute to the national context corresponding to the Swedish
Government’s desires about higher education contributing with new knowledge to
the surrounding society since it examines an ongoing phenomenon of great
political interest (SFS 1992:1434). This research is of a comprehensive nature that
can be expected to continue and be valuable in the future since the process of e-
government implementation will likely proceed and change the way information
will be captured and used.
1.3. Outline of the Thesis
The present thesis is structured into two parts. The first part consists of the cover
paper. The second part consists of peer review papers. The cover paper is outlined
as follows:
Chapter 1 gives an introduction to the research problem and a presentation of
the overall research aim including the research questions.
Chapter 2 will give a description of the Swedish administrative and legislative
framework. The chapter serves as link between the theoretical and analytical
framework presented in chapter 5 and the research findings presented in the
thesis’ second part, the peer reviewed papers. The research setting is part of a
national context characterised by its administrative and legislative structure.
Therefore, the presentation includes the governmental structure, recordkeeping
legislation, organisation and professions. In order to understand changes, there is a
presentation of the e-government development including ongoing projects.
Chapter 3 will give a background description and a presentation of related
research referring to the changing status and function of the public archive; the
legal system and recordkeeping; information capture and documentation practices;
professional challenges; and recordkeeping awareness. The structure of the chapter
aims to present a background and provide examples of related research to
illustrate the complexity and multiple challenges offered by societal changes in
general and e-government development in particular. The chapter ends with a
section with concluding remarks.
Chapter 4 will provide a description of the methodological framework. The
chapter starts with a presentation of the choice of methodological approach,
followed by a presentation of the research setting, which is local governments
(municipalities), motivated by their complex organisational structure and their
autonomy towards the national government including the National Archives.
8
Municipalities are regulated by the recordkeeping legislation but are responsible
for meeting the legislative requirements stipulated. Furthermore, the local
government are very involved in e-government strategic development. The
presentation of the research setting is followed by a description of the research
design. The methods of data collection and research tools including data analysis
will be outlined and discussed. A description of the overall research process
including a summary of the steps, courses, studies and outcomes during the time
of the doctoral studies will be presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion
of the research quality.
Chapter 5 presents the theoretical and analytical framework which is based on a
combination of theories in order to capture the complexity of the societal change,
namely archival science with influences of theories of professions. A fundamental
standpoint is that understanding and handling archives is not carried out in a
vacuum; it is a part of the surrounding context, influenced by trends in culture,
technology and legislation. An analytical model for recordkeeping awareness,
based on the theoretical framework presented and adapted to the context of the
study, will be presented at the end of the chapter. The model together with the
continuum model will provide theoretical support for the analysis of the research
findings.
In chapter 6 the research findings as presented in the papers will be
summarised. The cover paper closes with chapter 7, which presents discussions
and conclusions of the present study including research limitation and research
contribution. A suggestion on future research will conclude the chapter.
The second part, the peer reviewed papers, consists of six journal publications.
All publications are the authors’ own contributions.
1.4. Included Papers
All the following research publications are included in the second part of the thesis
and have been formatted to fit the thesis:
Paper I Kallberg, M. (2012). ’Taking care of business – but what about the
records?’ A Swedish study of recordkeeping expertise in business
development projects. In M. Procter (Ed.). Comma, vol. 2010-1, (pp.
169-188).
Paper II Kallberg, M. (2011). E-Government development and
recordkeeping: A comparative study of e-government best practice
in Swedish municipalities. In J. Douglas (Ed.), iRMA Information and
Records Management Annual 2010 (pp. 83-94).
9
Paper III Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists 2.0: Redefining the archivist´s
profession in the digital age. In J. McLeod (Ed.), Records Management
Journal, vol. 22(2), (pp. 98-115).
Paper IV Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists – A profession in transition?. In J-C
Smeby (Ed.), Professions & Professionalism, vol. 2(1), (pp. 27-41).
Paper V Kallberg, M. (2013). Issues with contact centres – as a new interface
between public organisations and citizens. In J. McLeod (Ed.),
Records Management Journal, vol. 23(2), (pp. 90-103).
Paper VI Kallberg, M. (2013). ‘Shaping a profession?’ – A new professional
context and changing status for registrars in Sweden. In J. McLeod
(Ed.). Records Management Journal, vol. 23(3), (forthcoming).
2. THE SWEDISH ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
From the late 1990s e-government provided a focus for a number of
government initiatives, and in the 2000s transparency and accountability
were prominent themes. In general one might say that Swedes have a
well-developed sense of their own version of democracy, and that
management ideas have to be adapted and repackaged to fit in with this
‘Swedish Way’ (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011, p. 306).
The statement made by Pollitt and Bouckaert illustrate what is known as the
cornerstones of the Swedish public sector, i.e. transparency and accountability,
with long traditions based on the administrative and legislative structure.
This chapter presents the Swedish administrative and legislative framework by
first introducing the governmental structure, followed by recordkeeping
legislation, recordkeeping organisation and professions and provides an overview
of the e-government development. The chapter ends with concluding remarks.
2.1. Governmental Structure
In Sweden the Parliament is the supreme political decision-making body, where
decisions are made collectively. The monarch’s role is ceremonial (Pollitt &
Bouckaert, 2011, p. 305). Sweden is divided into municipalities, county councils,
and regions. There are currently 290 municipalities and 20 county councils/regions,
i.e. local governments (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 16; Sveriges Kommuner och
Landsting, 2013c). There is no hierarchical relation between them; they are all self-
governing local authorities with responsibilities for different activities.
10
At regional level, a large number of activities are carried out by the County
Administrative Boards, which are regulated by the Government (Larsson & Bäck,
2008, p. 18). Furthermore, at regional level there are County Councils, which can
be described as ‘regional municipalities’. They are primarily in charge of health
and medical care and sometimes public transports. The regions in addition have a
more extended responsibility concerning regional growth than traditional county
councils (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, pp. 16-18, 211-212).
All municipalities, county councils, and regions are members of the Swedish
Association of Local Authorities and Regions ‘SALAR’. SALAR is a politically run
organisation which represents its members towards the government, government
agencies, the EU, and other organisations. SALAR strives to promote and develop
local self-government and democracy by for example providing service and advise,
functioning as a national forum and organising development projects etc. (Swedish
Association of Local Authorities and Regions, 2013). However, even though local
governments are autonomous, their work is nevertheless controlled to a large
extent by the implemented policies decided by the Government and Parliament at
national level (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 18). Table 1 presents the three democratic
levels and tasks in Sweden.
Table 1. Three democratic levels and tasks that the different actors have in
Sweden (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 17; Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, 2009)
The Municipalities
The County
Councils/ Regions
The Nation of
Sweden
National level Parliament
Government
Regional level County Councils/
Regions (20)
County
Administrative
Boards (21)
Authorities
Local level Municipalities (290)
Election to
Municipality
Election to County
Councils/Regions
Election to
Parliament
11
2.2. Recordkeeping Legislation
Legislation is the link between political decisions and implementation. Therefore
the legislation have an impact on the structure and practice of public organisations
(Montin, 2007, p. 25). Laws and regulations are used by the government to define
goals and tasks for public organisations (Montin, 2007, p. 44). The influence of
electronic information has made impact on the legislation and in addition has
raised question regarding interpretation and security issues, e.g. how to design
rules on freedom of information with respect to privacy in cross-national border
exchange of information and when designing information systems (Magnusson
Sjöberg, Nordbeck, Nordén, & Westman, 2011; Winberg, 1996). New regulations
have been established inspired by the EU. This section presents major laws and
regulations that affect recordkeeping practice of Swedish public organisations:
The Freedom of the Press Act SFS 1949:105
The Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act SFS 2009:4001
The Administrative Procedure Act SFS 1986:223
The Archives Act SFS 1990:782
The Personal Data Act SFS 1998:204
The Public Sector Information Act SFS 2010:566
The National Archives Regulations ‘RA-FS’
2.2.1. The Freedom of the Press Act
The Freedom of the Press Act (SFS 1949:105) has its roots back in 1766 and ensures
the public right to free access official documents. This is an important legislation
for the promotion of democracy and transparency of the Swedish society
(Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 64) and government efficiency (Bohlin, 2010, p. 23).
Openness within public administration is important to sustain the connection
between democracy and access to official documents. The concept ‘official
documents’ is defined in the Freedom of the Press Act, which considers a
document official, that is a record, as soon as it is created, i.e. prepared according
to certain criteria, or received and held by a public authority. For example, a
document is deemed to have been received by a public authority when it has
arrived to the authority or is in the hands of an official. The concept of official
document is medium neutral, i.e. containing information of some kind, for
example a text, a recording, a picture or a map stored on some medium which can
be read or listened to using technological means. A document is deemed to have
been drawn up by an authority when it has been dispatched. A document which
1 Within some of the articles in this thesis second part the ‘Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act’ SFS
2009:400 may be defined as the ‘Public and Secrecy Act’. However, the author is addressing the same act. The
first definition is the translation applied by the Swedish Government (Ministry of Justice, 2009).
12
has not been dispatched is deemed to have been drawn up when the matter to
which it relates has been finally settled by the authority, or, if the document does
not relate to a specific matter, when it has been finally checked and approved by
the authority, or has otherwise received final form. For example a register or a
similar document that is kept on a continuing basis, is deemed to have been drawn
up when the document has been made ready for use. In the preamble of the
Freedom of the Press Act it is stated that citizens shall have access to official
documents: “Every Swedish citizen shall be entitled to have free access to official
documents, in order to encourage the free exchange of opinion and the availability
of comprehensive information”, also known as ‘the principle of public access to
official documents’ (Fact sheet JU00.14e, 2000; Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 117; SFS
1949:105). This fundamental right of free access is, however, tempted by the Public
Access to Information and Secrecy Act (SFS 2009:400). The reasons for secrecy
relate to:
The security of the Realm or its relations with another state or an
international organisation; the central fiscal, monetary or currency policy
of the Realm; the inspection, control or other supervisory activities of a
public authority; the interest of preventing or prosecuting crime; the
economic interest of the public institutions; the protection of the
personal or economic circumstances of private subjects; and, the
preservation of animal or plant species (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, pp. 117-
118).
The general rule is nevertheless free access, secrecy is an exception, and official
documents that are not classified are accessible as soon as they are received or
created by the agencies. A person who would like to gain access to official
document should refer to the public authority keeping the document. The person
has the right to read the documents at the public authority, provided that the
document is not secret. If a document is secret in part, those parts of the document
that are not secret should be made available. A request to obtain an official
document shall be dealt with quickly by the authority (Fact sheet JU00.14e, 2000).
2.2.2. The Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act
Which official documents are secret is stated in the Public Access to Information
and Secrecy Act (SFS 2009:400). The act furthermore stipulates that official
documents are to be registered immediately in order to be identified for release or
classification (SFS 2009:400 chapter 5). The registration of official documents is
important in order to facilitate the citizens’ right to free access to all official
documents (Bohlin, 2010, p. 25). However, there are four exceptions to this rule.
The following documents need not to be registered: documents of little
importance, e.g. circulars and advertising material; documents that are not
13
regarded as secret and are kept in an order so that it can easily be identified that
they have been received by the authority or drawn up there, e.g. minutes and
invoices; documents that are found in a large number and which the Government
has exempted from the registration requirement by special provisions stated in the
Public Access to Information and Secrecy Ordinance (SFS 2009:641), e.g. medical
records or social service records, and; recordings for automatic data processing,
e.g. information that is found in a data system “that are available at the authority
by the authority having electronic access to them at another authority” (Ministry of
Justice, 2009, p. 19). Hence, there are official documents that are not registered, but
they are still considered as official documents and can therefore be provided to the
public upon request, which means that they are often kept in order according to a
given system. For example, minutes are usually kept chronologically and
documents referring to individuals like medical records or social service records
are kept by civic registration number. Another example is objects, i.e. estates etc,
are kept by object classification (Larsson, 2001, pp. 41-47; Sundqvist, 2009, p. 80).
Nevertheless, the overall aim of registration of official documents is to bring
orderliness, in order to facilitate the public’s right to access information
(Magnusson Sjöberg, et al., 2011, pp. 341-342).
Furthermore, as previously described, the register in itself is considered as an
official document. In Swedish, the register is usually called ‘diarium’, which can be
translated as ‘diary’ or ‘journal’. The oldest preserved journal in Sweden consists of
outgoing royal letters dated 1551 (Sundqvist, 2009, p. 79). To begin with, the
journal was used to register incoming and outgoing letters in chronological order.
This was common until the 20th century; it was replaced by a journal based on type
of business matters, where the documents of each matter were registered
chronologically (Sundqvist, 2009, p. 79). The concept ‘matter’ is an established
translation of the Swedish word ‘ärende’ (Government Offices of Sweden, 2013). A
matter is the issue that is handled by the authority. Therefore, a matter may consist
of several official documents depending on the activities made in the process of
handling the matter, from initiation to closure (Larsson, 2001, p. 41).
According to the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, official
documents should be registered by identity code, date, name of sender and
receiver and subject heading. However, due to the information technology
development, an electronic registry system is often included in a more extensive
electronic records management system with additional searchable metadata fields
like annotations, date of reminder, date of closure, date of decision etc. which
increases information retrieval and facilitates the administrative process, including
follow up functions (Sundqvist, 2009, pp. 96-98).
2.2.3. The Administrative Procedure Act
Upon request, the authorities shall provide information from the official
documents held by the authority that are not subject to secrecy. The duty of the
14
authorities is to provide information; who considers whether an official document
may be disclosed and general provisions on secrecy is, as mentioned, regulated in
the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (Ministry of Justice, 2009; SFS
2009:400). In addition, the Administrative Procedure Act (SFS 1986:223) aims to
protect the legal security of citizens in their contact with public authorities and to
ensure that the public authorities provide efficient service to the public. For
example, the authorities must provide clear information rapidly and assist citizens.
Furthermore, the Administrative Procedure Act contains rules on how decisions
may be reconsidered. Authorities shall act impartially and correctly in the legal
sense (Fact sheet JU99.04e, 1999; SFS 1986:223).
2.2.4. The Archives Act
The Swedish concept ‘archives’ has been developed in close connection to the
public’s right to free access to all official documents (Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 20).
What constitutes an ‘official document’ and ‘public access’ is linked and dependent
on the concept of archives (Winberg, 1996, p. 170). ‘Official documents’ are defined
by the Archives Act as the public authority’s archives (SFS 1990:782).
Historically, the administrative foundation of official archives can be traced
back to the first half of 16th century, aiming to protect the properties and rights of
the government. However, when the Freedom of the Press Act was created in 1766,
the view on archiving changed and the Swedish approach to public access to
documents together with the Archives Act can be seen as an integrated approach
to promote transparency and openness (Winberg, 1996, p. 168). Before the Archives
Act (SFS 1990:782) was established, recordkeeping was regulated by charters. The
first charter was published in 1900 and was updated and replaced several times
until it was replaced by the Archives Act in 1990. The principle of provenance has
been applied since the beginning of 1900 and have been the theoretical approach in
the formulation of the charters as well as the Archives Act (Gränström, et al., 2000,
p. 49).
The Archives Act regulates the national, regional and local public authorities
official documents and archive management. The official documents are a part of
the cultural heritage and must be preserved, kept and managed so that they meet
the right of access to information, the need for justice, administration and research.
This includes appraisal, retention, disposal, description, protection and
responsibility issues. The main rule is that official documents are to be preserved.
Disposal is an exception and can only be conducted after decision has been made
in consideration to the motivations describing why official documents are to be
kept. Each public authority’s archive is to be kept separated from all other
authority’s archives (SFS 1990:782). Considering the stipulated legislative
requirements of the objectives the official documents are to meet, i.e. the public’s
right to access information, need for justice, administration and research, the
concept of archives is holistic and there is no distinction between records and
15
archive management. Archives are seen as fundamental and democratic, legal,
business and cultural issues are to be catered for. The Archives Act is considered as
a framework law and stipulates general rules of recordkeeping. In addition, the
Archives Ordinance specifies the role of the archival authorities and provisions in
terms of for example storage medium, appraisal, auditing etc. (SFS 1991:446).
Separate regulations are given to the national authorities by the National Archives
and to the Local Governments by each of the councils (Gränström, et al., 2000, p.
50).
2.2.5. The Personal Data Act
Protecting the privacy of citizens is crucial when handling electronic information
containing personal data in for example e-services. Sweden adopted the world’s
first national privacy act in 1973: the Swedish Data Act (Arnesen & Danielsson,
2007), which was replaced by the Personal Data Act (SFS 1998:204) in October 1988.
The Personal Data Act is based on common rules decided within the EU; it
stipulates the processing of personal data in order to protect people’s personal
integrity. Personal data is all kinds of information that directly or indirectly may be
referring to an actual living person. Processing of personal data is defined as any
operation or set of operations dealing with personal data, for example collecting,
recording, organising, storing, adapting or altering, retrieving, gathering, using,
and disclosing by transmission, disseminating or otherwise making information
available, aligning or combining, blocking, erasing or destroying (Ministry of
Justice, 2006; SFS 1998:204).
2.2.6. The Public Sector Information Act
The Public Sector Information Act (SFS 2010:566) came into force on 1 July 2010 as
an adaption of the EU directive 2003/98/EG to promote use of public sector
information in order to develop products and services and therefore contribute to
economic growth. Cultural institutions, such as National Archives, and
educational and research institutions, were excluded. However, there is a current
investigation examining the possibilities to improve the Public Sector Information
Act including the consequences of including cultural institutions such as archives,
museums and libraries as well. A report will be presented by 30 October 2013
(Committee directive Dir 2013:2, 2013). It is too soon to see the result of the
directive on the Public Sector Information Act, but so far there are indications that
Swedish society is currently undergoing an examination in order to meet a possible
adaptation to e-government ambitions, globally and nationally, where information
is valued as an economic asset by the market.
16
2.2.7. The National Archives Regulations
The transition from paper-based to electronic records has made the National
Archives establish new regulations. The National Archives released a regulation on
digital records on 1 July 2009 (RA-FS 2009:1). The regulation is divided into
different sections with different aspects of electronic records; definitions of terms,
strategies and planning for preservation, actions of activities within the
government agency, documentation, information security and transmission to
archive authority. The regulation establishes the importance of strategy and
planning for preservation. The government agency is obliged to draw up a strategy
for preservation of electronic records, which must clearly state what actions they
intend to take to ensure the preservation of records. The actions shall be
documented and the strategy shall be updated continuously. The activities refer to
how the electronic records are created, received and maintained as long as they are
to be preserved. The importance of government agencies consulting the archive
authority when establishing the planning of systems and routines, e.g. the strategy,
is emphasized (RA-FS 2009:1). At the same time the National Archives also
released a regulation on technical requirements of electronic records including
approved formats (RA-FS 2009:2).
The National Archives have also reflected the process oriented approach in the
archives’ descriptions. The authorities are obliged to describe, classify and present
their archives in a process oriented way in order to clarify the official documents
and how they relate to each other in the process where they belong (RA-FS 2008:4).
2.3. Recordkeeping Organisation and Professions
The recordkeeping organisation and professions are formed and established by a
nation’s administrative and legislative framework, which is not static; rather it is
changing in relation to the surrounding society. This section presents the current
recordkeeping organisation of archival authorities and professions within the
public sector using a historical perspective including governmental reports on the
view of the role and functions of the public archives.
2.3.1. Recordkeeping Organisation at National and Local level
The recordkeeping organisation in Sweden reflects the governmental structure, i.e.
the national level is represented by the National Archives, the regional level is
represented by the county councils and the local level is represented by the
municipality councils. While the National Archives functions as an archival
authority serving authorities at national level, each county council and
municipality council, have the mandate to appoint a committee to function as
archival authority. The recordkeeping responsibilities are regulated for all levels by
the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782). Overall, the public records are a part of the
cultural heritage regardless of organisational origin and have to be preserved, kept
17
and managed to fulfil the public’s right to access information, the need for justice,
administration and research (SFS 1990:782).
The National Archives have a long tradition, back to 1618 when the chancellor
Axel Oxenstierna created an organisation for the management of archives.
However, it was not until 1878 that the National Archives was founded as an
agency. In 1805 the Military Archives was founded, but it has been a part of the
National Archives organisation since 1995. During 1900s the recordkeeping
organisation at regional national level was established in the form of seven
regional state archives located at different geographical areas in Sweden. The
National Archives served as archival authority towards central national agencies,
i.e. agencies that were responsible for serving the whole country, while the
regional archives served national agencies at regional levels (Gränström, et al.,
2000, p. 47; Nilsson, 1978, p. 42).
After a reorganisation in 2010, the National Archives is now one organisation
including the regional state archives. The National Archives has the supervision of
all official documents of the agencies at national level, and is also responsible for
long-term preservation of records that have been delivered from the agencies to
the repositories, where the archives are made accessible for information retrieval
and research (National Archives of Sweden, 2012). Appraisal cannot be conducted
by individual archivists without regulations. That includes national as well as local
government levels. For example, within local governments, an archivist can make a
proposal on appraisal, but a formal decision has to be made by the archival
authority.
The National Archives regulations are considered as guidelines for
municipalities and county councils. The National Archives does not have any
supervisory or monitoring function towards the local governments. SALAR as well
publishes guidelines on recordkeeping, in cooperation with the National Archives.
The impact of electronic recordkeeping has made the National Archives publish
regulations adapted to meet the challenges posed by the management of electronic
records. Even though the National Archives’ regulations are not mandatory for the
local governments, the local governments may need to adopt these guidelines in
order to be able to embrace the new challenges that the change from traditional to
digital recordkeeping implies. See section 4.2.3 for a more detailed description
about the recordkeeping practice within local governments.
2.3.2. Recordkeeping Professions
Since records management is seen as a dimension of the archival function (SFS
1990:782) there has never been an established records manager profession. The
traditional recordkeeping practice is associated with two occupational groups:
registrars and archivists. There are several differences between archivists and
registrars in their professional practice as well as their educational background.
The archivist profession requires at least three years of university studies (DIK,
18
2010). The registrars on the other hand have different educational backgrounds,
often with no academic qualifications. In fact academic education for registrars in
Sweden started as late as 2002 at Mid Sweden University, conducted at this one
university only (Mid Sweden University, 2013). Both archivists and registrars have
Archives and Information Science as main field – but the level of the courses
differs.
Registrars are primarily responsible for the registration process, i.e. the
assessment of the documents to be registered, the registration and classification
and distribution of the matter to the responsible administrative officer (Hansen,
2009). The profession has a long tradition. Already in 1729 the profession has been
found on payrolls serving the national government; 12 registrars, all men.
However, as the administration became more standardised it became a profession
for women (Arvidson, 2000; Larsson, 2001, p. 19).
In addition to being responsible for the registration process registrars work
with day-to-day operational management tasks. Registrars as professionals are
active in the central of the public organisation’s administration, i.e. they carry out
the first activity in the recordkeeping process where records are created and
captured. Registrars have an important role as internal and external intermediaries
of information. For example, registrars serve the internal organisation by providing
information to administration officers when handling matters, since information
about similar matters is often necessary, and this information can be provided by
registrars. Registrars also serve the public’s right to free access information upon
request, since access to official documents is a fundamental right for the promotion
of democracy and transparency as well as government efficiency in the Swedish
society (Bohlin, 2010; Gränström, et al., 2000). Therefore registrars need skills about
classification and secrecy legislation in particular.
As a result of electronic recordkeeping, the registry function is valued as
important for the organisation and registry functions have been object of
centralisation efforts (see further section 2.4.3). Due to electronic recordkeeping
and reorganisation, the work of the registrar has changed from being overall
operative to becoming more coordination and strategy work with developing
guidelines and policies for recordkeeping, and educating users, like administrative
officers, on handling electronic records management systems and legislative
requirements (Hansen, 2009). A centralised registry function makes it possible to
work more efficiently across organisational borders and it further decreases the
vulnerability of registrars as individual professionals, since the registrars are often
a limited occupational group, serving several administrative officers within an
organisation (Larsson, 2001).
Archivists are, in contrast to registrars, often working with a range of tasks,
from custodians of repositories to strategic experts on electronic recordkeeping and
can serve government agencies and archival authorities at national and local level.
Archivists working at an archival authority usually have an audit and advisable
19
function towards other authorities, for example how they fulfil the legislative
demands on recordkeeping and teaching the work of establishing retention and
disposal schemes. Therefore, archivists need to have knowledge of for example
legislation to conduct appraisal. Archival authorities are responsible for the long-
term preservation of records that have been delivered from the government
agencies at national and local levels. Archivists often work as managers of the
archival repositories. Archivists have long experience of how to process archives
using arrangement and description principles in order to make them accessible to
the public. Since the public are entitled to access official documents, the work of
organising visits and tours for information users at the archival repositories is
important (Holmberg, 2010, pp. 129-137). Archivists need to be skilled in the
public’s access to information and secrecy legislation in order to make decisions on
information retrieval. In addition, archivists need to be strategically involved in the
organisation in order to work pro-actively with electronic recordkeeping.
2.3.3. Reports on the Role and Function of Public Archives
Over the years many government reports have been written about issues relating
more or less to public archives (Gränström, et al., 2000, pp. 44-46). However, the
focus here is on reports which correspond to the current archives legislation. What
is of interest is how the reports view the role and function of the public archives
because it may reveal differences in the definition of ‘archive’, as stipulated in the
Archives Act (SFS 1990:782), and practice. In this section some of the reports will be
discussed, in chronological order, starting with the report that was initiated to
provide results in order to establish a basis for decision of the Archives Act: SOU
1988:11. The title of the report translates as ‘transparency and memory’ and the
‘archives role in the society’ is used as subtitle (SOU 1988:11). The report presents
the role of the archives as follows: 1. ‘Mediating knowledge’ to citizens and
scholars, which is seen as especially important for citizens’ participation in
democratic processes, i.e. access to information. Transparency is seen as essential
in order to maintain trust in the decision making processes. 2. ‘Cultural heritage’ –
in order to support an increasing interest in Swedish culture, it is considered
important for the archival institutions to be more outreaching and market their
collections by for example using a national database, participating in research
projects and using microfilm. 3. ‘Efficiency improvement’ – due to the increasing
bulk of paper-based documents and the information technology development
consideration has to be taken regarding appraisal and long-term preservation in
relation to costs and the need of information retrieval to support records creating
agencies and to fulfil citizens’ rights to access information. The report suggests that
the records creating agencies will have full responsibility for their archives,
including when to deliver their archival material to the archival authorities. Local
governments will keep its autonomous role. The records creating agencies will be
authorised to establish archival descriptions. In addition the archival authorities
20
will be given a monitoring and advisory role. The report furthermore addresses a
need for the staff practicing records and archives management at archival
institutions and records creating agencies to improve their skills through higher
education (SOU 1988:11). The proposals were met in the establishment of the
Archives Act (1990:782).
In 2002 a governmental report, SOU 2002:78, was published. The purpose of the
investigation was to propose actions for improvement that will increase the access
to and the use of archives. In order to reach the aim, the role and function of, as
well as the organisation of public archives, was examined. The report suggests that
the regional state archives together with the National Archives should establish a
government agency. Furthermore, an increased cooperation between the national
and local government levels regarding recordkeeping is proposed. The national
minorities’ access to archives is highlighted as important. In fact, the access to
archives in general is identified as important, and therefore, public, outreaching
efforts, like digitising projects, are addressed as important issues in order to attract
new groups of users. In addition the report suggests a change in the Archives Act
(1990:782) to also include private archives as part of cultural heritage. This
suggested change was, however, never accepted. Similarly to the SOU report
1988:11, an increased need for higher education is seen as necessary in order to
meet requirements posed by the labour market due to information technology
development (SOU 2002:78). A separate investigation was undertaken regarding
the issue of long-term preservation of electronic records. The result is presented in
an appendix to the report. The focus of the investigation was how to prepare for
expected deliveries of electronic archives and how to handle the material derived
from digitisation projects. The need to collaborate with the current e-government
development was considered important in order to standardise and develop
methods and routines regarding how to handle electronic information. The need
for skilled archivists in information and system analysis as well as electronic long-
term preservation was considered urgent. The records creating agencies were
suggested to be economically responsible to build necessary archival repositories
for electronic records under the management of archival authorities. The estimated
cost was deemed unpredictable at the time (SOU 2002:78, attachment 2).
In 2002 another report, SOU 2002:97 was published focusing on legal issues
about how to improve the handling of official documents. The investigation was
initiated since the inclusion of the registration of official documents in the
legislation concerning secrecy, differed from the Archives Act, which was
considered problematic. The National Archives promoted a change in legislation
since it would make it easier to reach out and communicate with the government
agencies on how to handle official documents. The report proposed that the
paragraph about registration should, together with the Archives Act (SFS
1990:782), be replaced by a new act on handling official documents (SOU 2002:97).
In practice, this proposal was never accepted. However, the legislation on secrecy,
21
including the paragraph about registration, was replaced by an updated and
restructured act entitled the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (SFS
2009:400).
The impact of electronic recordkeeping initiated several investigations aiming
to adapt current legislation to meet the ongoing e-government strategic goals. For
example a report published in 2010 suggested that agencies shall provide official
document electronically upon request unless some type of hindrance is found,
such as privacy issues. The report furthermore suggested that additional
investigations on regulations on how personal data is registered is required before
a change in the legislation can be undertaken (SOU 2010:4). An investigation is
currently continuing the work with special reference to the ongoing e-government
development. A final report is expected to be delivered by 1 December 2014
(Kommittédirektiv 2011:86).
The aim of the overview given is to provide a background as well as an
introduction to the forthcoming section on e-government development. The
presentation of some of the reports illustrates a development where the
recordkeeping organisation and professions, represented by the archival
authorities, in part has lost influence because of the requirements posed by the
technological development. It seems that electronic information may have a
different value from a business point of view than from the holistic point of view
where records are seen as archives in a wider perspective, as mediating knowledge
essential from a democratic and societal perspective, as part of the cultural
heritage, i.e. the background to the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782).
2.4. E-Government Development - An Overview
E-government development is a prioritised political issue in Sweden, as it is in
many other countries, and it is included in the EU’s trans-national programme.
This section aims to give a background to the e-government development in
Sweden. Considering that Sweden has been a member of the EU since 1995, the
Swedish e-government development is linked to the EU’s goals and strategies.
Therefore, the section starts with a description of the current EU-initiatives
followed by a chronological presentation of the Swedish e-government
development and trends including a description of ongoing initiatives.
2.4.1. The Impact of the EU
The European Commission launched the Digital Agenda for Europe in May 2010 in
order to deliver “smart sustainable and inclusive growth”. A review was published
in 2012 (European Commission, 2012). Based on the Digital Agenda the European
Commission has released an Action Plan for 2011–2015, which is based on four
agreed political priorities: ‘user empowerment’; ‘digital single market’; ‘efficiency
and effectiveness’; and ‘pre-conditions’ (European Commission, 2011; European
22
Commission: Directorate General of Communications Networks, 2013). The
European Action Plan aims to support the transition of e-government into a
generation of open, flexible and collaborative seamless e-government services at
local regional, national and European level. A joint action and knowledge sharing
is addressed as an important contribution (European Commission, 2011).
Since 2001 the European Commission has commissioned an annual process of
benchmarking in order to examine the development of e-government across
Europe. 2012 was the first year when the re-designed benchmark was put into
practice. The benchmark addresses four broad areas, derived from the four agreed
political priorities described in the Action Plan. The top level benchmarks for each
political area can be presented as the following: ‘empowering government’ refers
to empowering government, i.e. increasing the capacity of citizens, businesses and
other organisations to be pro-active by using technology. The citizens and
businesses are considered at the centre of service provision. This area is further
split into: ‘user centric government’; transparent government’; and ‘collaborative
gov & participation’. Measurements have been conducted by user surveys
including 32 countries and approximately 28,000 people. The second area, ‘digital
single market’, refers to ‘seamless cross-border government’ in order to increase
mobility. This area is divided into: ‘business mobility’ and ‘citizens’ mobility’ and
has been measured by ‘mystery shopping’. Mystery shoppers are trained to
observe and experience a public service against a detailed, objective evaluation
checklist by acting as a prospective user. The results are validated by government
representatives. Public services used for mystery shopping are life events, i.e.
government services provided by multiple government agencies around a subject
but in collaboration to provide a seamless experience across agencies and borders.
Typical life events are ‘starting up a business’, ‘studying’, ‘losing and finding a job’
and ‘declaring income tax’. The third area ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ refers to
‘results driven government’ and is divided into ‘effective government’ and
‘efficient government’, i.e. the benefits of providing better services, reducing
administration burdens and increasing internal efficiency of public administration.
The third area was not a part of the 2012 measurement. The fourth and last area
‘pre-conditions’ refers to ‘smart government’, i.e. measures of ‘key enablers’ in
order to further enhance e-government services. Key-enablers are defined as the
‘technology behind the web’ and covers a wide range of enablers. Examples of key-
enablers are ‘electronic identification’; ‘eDocuments’, i.e. documents which have
been authenticated by its user, for example through electronic signatures;
‘authentic sources’, i.e. registries used by governments to automatically validate or
fetch data; ‘eSafe’, a recognised system that allows for secure storage and retrieval
of electronic documents, and ‘single sign on’ which means that users can get access
to multiple systems without logging in multiple times (European Commission:
Directorate General of Communications Networks, 2013).
23
The presentation of the benchmark report confirms that interoperability, trust
and security are the prerequisites for creating sustainable e-government. It is
interesting to study the measurements describing each country’s attitude towards
e-government, according to four types of attitudes, when using e-government
services. The attitudes are divided into: ‘believer’ (loyal user); ‘potential drop out’;
‘potential users’; and ‘non-believer’. Sweden is ranked as the second best country
representing ‘believers’ (European Commission: Directorate General of
Communications Networks, 2013, p. 20).
2.4.2. Directives and Reports
Even though new management ideas during the 1980s and 1990s reached Sweden,
academics did not embrace the new management ideas to the same extent as some
other countries, such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom (Pollitt &
Bouckaert, 2011, p. 306). However, in Sweden other new management concepts
like Total Quality Management (TQM) and Management by Objectives (MbO)
were adopted but have been adapted and repackaged to fit in with the ‘Swedish
way’. The e-government efforts are therefore referred to the themes “transparency
and accountability” (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011, p. 306). Already in 2000, Sweden
presented the political objective to become the first country to be an “Information
Society for All” (European Commission IDABC programme, 2009). Since then
several directives and reports have been published in order to comply with this
decision to increase public confidence in IT and help improve user skills and
promote access to IT services:
2004 – E-Services for various life situations should be collected, facilitating for
the citizens as well as the entrepreneurs to reach the public sector (SOU 2004:56).
2005 – E-services can improve contacts when several agencies are involved by
creating personal e-services like ‘my pages’ in order to avoid exchange of personal
information. Electronic identification and signatures are considered important
when providing e-services (SOU 2005:119).
2008 – Presentation of the National Action Plan – The primary objective was for
Sweden to gain a leading position within e-government 2010 by becoming “the
World´s simplest administration” (Regeringskansliet, 2008) by enabling sector-wise
cooperation on e-government and efficient information management, i.e. making
the information easy to access and use, but at the same time bearing in mind
privacy and secrecy aspects (Goldkuhl, 2009, p. 77).
2009 – The E-Government Delegation, in charge of leading and coordinating the
e-government development and the implementation of the Action plan during
2009-2014 was established (Finansdepartementet, 2009). The development of e-
services should be based on societal needs and carried out in collaboration
between the government agencies. Local governments are self-governing
authorities and therefore represented by SALAR. The Delegation has initiated a
process of interaction and agreements with relevant stakeholders (including the
24
private sector and SALAR) to achieve a needs-driven and flexible e-government
(SOU 2009:86).
The Delegation consists of 16 directors representing the most IT intensive
government authorities in Sweden together with SALAR. Matters are prepared by
a working group with mainly IT and business managers (E-delegationen, 2013b).
2010 – The Delegation addressed the importance of a common strategy for e-
government development and the need to establish guidelines for business
development regarding web development, a strategy for contact channels with
citizens, e-services development for exchange of information between authorities
(SOU 2010:20). In the second report the Delegation addressed a need for a financial
solution for strategic e-government projects. One of the suggested pre-studies was
about a jointly managed e-archive and e-register. The Swedish National Archives
was appointed authority responsible for this project in collaboration with other
national government authorities and SALAR. The motivation was to facilitate
access for citizens and authorities to digital information. The report also discussed
the issue of social media and the importance of establishing guidelines for the
government on how to use social media while considering legal aspects (SOU
2010:62).
2011–2013 – The Swedish Government digital agenda is entitled “ICT for
Everyone – A Digital Agenda for Sweden” (Government Offices of Sweden,
2011b). During 2011 the Swedish Government presented their e-government
strategy based on the Digital Agenda, and identified three overall goals: 1. A
simpler everyday life for citizens, where it will be easier for individuals, businesses
and other organisations to have contact with government agencies. E-services
provided by government agencies should be designed to meet the need of the
citizens; 2. A transparent public sector administration that supports innovation and
participation; 3. An increased quality and efficiency. Furthermore, examples of
development activities, how to reach the goals: ‘my pages’, open data portal, e-
archives and e-registry etc, were presented (Government Offices of Sweden, 2012).
A published report addressed the need for a more efficient processing of cases
for citizens by exchanging information within public e-services. Therefore, the E-
delegation started a feasibility study of how information sharing between
authorities can be streamlined, which for example could involve the processing of
financial social help to citizens within the municipalities by creating a faster and
safer information exchange. The result of the study will also be used in other areas.
There is a need to gather several cases from different authorities in one place in
order to facilitate for the citizens. Therefore, the delegation intends to develop a
plan for how to meet the identified need and how to create a secure login.
Furthermore, the report states that only a fifth of the authorities have introduced e-
archives. The delegation believes that it would make it easier for many authorities
to be able to join common services for e-archives and e-registration and suggested
that the National Archives should lead the progressive implementation of these
25
services. The Delegation also proposed that the Government should start an
investigation on the role of the National Archives and other archives authorities on
e-archives and e-register (SOU 2011:27).
In January 2011 a pre-study report on e-archives and e-registration was
delivered to the E-delegation. It presented a suggestion on how to proceed with the
work, and during the autumn 2011 the project e-archive and e-register ‘eARD’
started under auspices of the National Archives. The project is planned to be
completed in June 2014. The project aims to make it easier for public organisations
to handle electronic recordkeeping, as well as promote access for citizens and
public administration officers to handle matters and follow the process of decision
making within and between public organisations. The project is identified as one of
the most important projects within the E-delegations strategic work. The project
steering group is led by the national archivist and representatives from the E-
delegation and government agencies. The local governments are represented by
SALAR. Approximately, there are 100 project participants with different
backgrounds and skills from the public sector. The project is divided into eight
different subprojects: 1. Terminology; 2. Benefit realisation and stakeholder
analysis; 3. E-archive and common government authority e-specification on
electronic systems (‘FGS’) concerning structure and metadata for delivery
package/format; 4. E-archive and functional requirements in order to facilitate the
implementation on FGS; 5. E-registry and common government authority e-
specification on electronic systems (‘FGS’) concerning structure and metadata for
delivery package/format; 6. E-registry and functional requirements in order to
facilitate the implementation on FGS; 7. Test and evaluation and; 8. Management
organisation aiming to identify future management of FGS (Kristiansson,
Almalander, & Geber, 2013).
2.4.3. Centralised Functions
In collaboration with SALAR, the current eARD project discusses the issue of
establishing an e-archive solution, a repository for semi-active records, where non-
current records for the organisation are kept but not delivered to the archival
authority. Given the fact that the legislation defines official documents as archives,
the suggested e-archive solution raises practical as well as theoretical questions
concerning the concept of the archive, the function of the archive, and issues of
responsibility have to be taken into consideration – that is: who owns and is
responsible for the archives, information access including matters of privacy,
appraisal, long-term preservation etc. Since the eARD project is still ongoing, it is
not possible at this time to examine the impact of this work, however, the project is
an important step and is highly prioritised in the Swedish Government’s e-
government strategic ambitions and will likely have a major impact on the archive
as a function, i.e. the overall Swedish recordkeeping practice. According to the
project managers, the FGS will be an important building block in defining the
26
information flow structure between the public organisation and the registry or
archive. The predefined format will facilitate exchange of information between
different IT systems to meet access as well as long-term preservation of
information requirements (Kristiansson & Almalander, 2013).
In 2011 a report was released on the issue of a joint authority centre for national
authorities, primarily on voluntary basis. The main idea behind the service centre
is to provide the authorities with financial and human resources services. The
service centre should be established as an independent authority. The report also
suggests that the following e-services should be included in the future: support for
procurement, e-archive and e-register, continued development of human resource
services, office support, IT support, and e-identification (SOU 2011:38). The
outcome of the report led to the establishment of the Swedish National Service
Centre on 1 June 2012. The centre provides and manages digital services in
financial management, e-procurement and payroll. A year later, 2013, the centre is
handling the service of 16% of the total number of payrolls undertaken within the
national government sector. The number of clients continues to increase (Swedish
National Service Centre, 2012). Furthermore, as mentioned in the introduction in
chapter 1, a possible development of the centre is being assigned to function as an
e-archive and e-registry service, which raises questions regarding the future role of
the Swedish National Archives. During spring and summer 2013 a pre-study was
conducted by the Swedish National Service Centre on the issue of establishing e-
registry and e-archive services. A pre-study report was handed over to the
Minister for Information Technology and Energy in August 2013. The result of the
pre-study suggested that this kind of establishment corresponds to current e-
government development ambitions and that there are financial benefits.
Furthermore, the National Archives as well as public authorities are positive
towards such a solution. However, more resources are required for a deeper
analysis of the conditions for the establishment, for example regarding
organisation, funding and customer base (Aspenfjäll, 2013).
The e-archives solution discussed and presented in the pre-study is a repository
for semi-active records, where non-current records of the authority are kept but not
delivered to the archival authority, in this case the National Archives. The National
Archives is in the pre-study identified as responsible for the final archival
repository, when the information is not considered to be needed by the public
authorities, and therefore delivered for long-term preservation (Aspenfjäll, 2013).
The pre-study report seems to suggest a distinction between e-archive, e-registry
and business systems. What is a system and what is a function, and the relation
between the two seems unclear and in need of clarification.
Establishment of contact centres in local government bodies (municipalities),
using a single contact point towards the citizens, integrating the organisation, have
become important in order to increase quality and efficiency and make it possible
for the public to interact using different channels e.g. telephone, the Internet, fax
27
etc. (Flensburg, 2008; Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2012a). Already in 1999 a
government report described the development of call centres in the private sector
in relation to the technological development. Several private companies
established themselves in rural regions since technology made it possible to work
anywhere, regardless of geographical location. The employees were often unskilled
and internally trained (SOU 1999:138). During the 1990s the establishment of call
centres increased and a number of organisations in the private sector joined the
development. Call centres have often been associated with outsourcing, i.e. private
companies conducting call centre business as a service on behalf of other private
companies. However, in Sweden, according to a study published in 2006, most call
centres are organised as in-house, approximately 75–80%. The term in-house
referrers to a department or a unit within an organisation (Strandberg, Sandberg, &
Norman, 2006, p. 10). According to a study on management, using heads of call
centre departments at seven call centres as cases, identified that administrative
work had lower priority than coaching and supporting the staff. Administrative
work, e.g. budget administration, statistics and personnel management, was seen
as time consuming and tedious (Fundin & Sundell, undated). Nevertheless,
inspired by the private sector and the call centre development, contact centres have
established themselves within the public sector as an important function to
increase quality and efficiency. The term ‘contact centre’ used within this study is
defined as an organisational unit which serves as interface between the public
organisation and the citizens, including private businesses, and which is
responsible for dealing with incoming contacts through information technology
channels like the Internet, e-mail, chat, telephone or fax.
Even though contact centres are identified as important for the public sector, i.e.
local government bodies, the overall e-government ambition is to increase public
confidence in IT and promote access to IT services by establishing solutions where
interaction between the public agencies and individual citizens is prioritised.
Examples of such suggested solutions are cross-agency-border portals including
agencies at national and local government levels where systems integrate and puts
the citizens in the centre. For example ‘my matters’ is a suggested solution where
the citizens may interact and follow their own matters at different public agencies
using a single contact surface. A pre-study on how to build and organise such a
portal solution with consideration to legal and technical aspects has been
conducted by the Swedish Transport Agency during the autumn of 2011
(Ekenstierna, 2012). An additional study regarding the legal and technical aspects
was undertaken by the Swedish Companies Registration Office, the Swedish Tax
Agency and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth during 2012.
It is considered problematic that the private sector is not included in the solution
offered in the pre-study since local governments have parts of their business
contracted to private business. Furthermore, the study addressed that the public
sector is not uniform regarding systems and business processes and therefore there
28
is a need for collaboration at national level to create a common strategy for how to
continue the work. Different national development projects, like ‘my messages’
and ‘my matters’ need to be integrated in order to be optimal (Wallström, 2012).
Between October 2011 and March 2012 the Swedish Pensions Agency
conducted a pre-study on how to develop and implement an e-service for proxies.
The pre-study included examination of possible stakeholders’ interests and
business benefits, establishing suggestions of case descriptions, examine legal
aspects and suggest how to continue the work. Several agencies are using proxies
to conduct business. The use of proxies is expected to increase as the number of e-
services will expand. Therefore, the study identifies a need for a shared national e-
service, which will also link to the project’s ‘my matters’ and ‘my messages’. In
addition to public agencies, there is a need as well as an interest to include private
businesses like pharmacies and insurance companies (Sterner Varnestig, 2012).
2.4.4. User Centric Perspective Projects
All the projects, ‘my matters’; ’my messages’; ‘my proxies’; as well as ‘eARD’,
described have been authorised and conducted by national agencies on behalf of
the E-delegation, a committee serving the Swedish Government, i.e. the Ministry of
Enterprise, Energy and Communications (E-delegationen, 2013a). What is
significant for the projects is a shared vision to implement e-services using a citizen
user centric perspective and that all reports identifies a technical solution where
access to information is not an issue because the information will be presented as
an interface towards individual citizens providing information on demand. The
information will not be stored or preserved (Ekenstierna, 2012, p. 7; Sterner
Varnestig, 2012, p. 5; Wallström, 2012, p. 13). Since this is a work in progress the
outcomes cannot be presented within the study due to time limitations. However,
together the projects contribute to a presentation of current Swedish e-government
development.
2.4.5. Initiatives at Local Government Level
Within the national e-government strategic work, the local governments are
represented by SALAR in the E-delegation. SALAR established a Centre for E-
Society ‘CeCam’ for e-government development focusing on innovation and
business process improvement using information technology. The centre aims to
represent the range of the areas of responsibility of the local governments. The
centre has a specific focus on common functions and e-services where there is an
ongoing collaboration and convergence with the E-delegation on the development
of citizens-oriented services like ‘my matters’. The centre has, in addition, made a
decision on procurement requirements for e-archive solutions (Sveriges
Kommuner och Landsting, 2013a).
29
According to regular measurements between 2006 and 2011 concerning e-
government development that have been carried out by SALAR, local
governments are working at different stages under different conditions according
to tax assessments, population size and composition, and geographic area. The
findings present three observations: there is a relationship between municipality
size and the value of the indicators where only the larger municipalities have
demonstrated significant development and there are generally low values
connected to the areas of change management, communication and competence
(Glasare, 2009; Jonasson & Glasare, 2011; Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting,
2008). SALAR released a report on strategy in April 2011 where the need for
municipal collaboration is mentioned as essential for the e-government
development. All municipalities should work towards to a united commitment
and agreement for future strategic e-government development (Jonasson &
Glasare, 2011; Knape, 2011).
2.5. Concluding Remarks
A governmental report issued and published at the time of the adoption of the
Archives Act (SFS 1990:782) and in the beginning of 2000 focused on the archives
as essential in order to promote transparency in order to fulfil democracy (SOU
1988:11). It also highlighted cultural heritage. The archival authorities were seen as
important and obvious stakeholders. Questions were raised about the competence
and the need for higher education in order to meet the challenges. However, facing
the challenges as well as the opportunities offered by electronic information, the
focus moved from the archival authorities to the record creating agencies. Issues
like cost saving, information exchange, as well as increasing efficiency and quality
became important. The archival authorities, i.e. the National Archives, stepped
aside and argued that electronic recordkeeping is a responsibility to be solved by
the agencies themselves. An example of this is that the time for deliveries of
archives to the archival authorities was considered to be the agencies’ own
decision. Another example is the ongoing eARD project where an e-archive
solution, characterised by life cycle thinking, is promoted, i.e. ‘the archive’ is
managed according to whether the records are seen as active, semi-active or
delivered to the archival authority.
Overall, the number of governmental directives and reports during the last
decade show an increasing focus on e-government development. There is a major
focus on the establishment of e-services characterised by facilitating the interaction
between government and individual citizens, but also, as shown by reports from
the few last years, on centralised functions such as a joint e-archive and e-registry
(eARD project) and government to government centralised solutions like the
National Service Centre and one-single-spot solutions like contact centres. The
Swedish e-government strategic ambition is very citizen-centred and focused on
30
meeting individual needs when developing e-services. Business development and
the focus on the individual citizen interacting with government agencies are
prioritised.
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Nothing is less reliable, nothing is less clear today than the word
“archive” (Derrida, 1996, p. 90).
There is no political power without control of the archive, if not of
memory. Effective democratization can always be measured by this
essential criterion: the participation in and access to the archive, its
constitution and its interpretation (Derrida, 1996, p. 4).
The opening quotation by Derrida illustrates the changing status and significance
associated with the concept of the ‘archive’. For example, both quotations are used
by Cunningham in his article about the varied manifestations and the changing
roles of archival institutions through history (Cunningham, 2005). The second
quotation is used by Harris in his article about power and politics in the archive
within different contexts (2011a, p. 104). In general, scholars within archival science
influenced by postmodernism are inspired by Derrida, as will be further outlined
in the theoretical and analytical framework, see chapter 5. The archive are seen as
dynamic and constantly changing shape in postmodern frameworks (McKemmish
& Gilliland, 2013, p. 91).
This chapter presents a selection of related research in order to meet research
objectives: namely to capture and analyse an ongoing change in society, e.g. e-
government development and recordkeeping nexus including recordkeeping
practices and the function of the archive in changing contemporary public
organisations. The references derives both from research studies as well as
professional writing due to the limited numbers of archival scientific research
paper publications that correspond to the research objectives presented. This
chapter is structured as follows: first there is an historical overview of the function
of public archives followed by a presentation of the legislation referring to
democracy and transparency. The function of the archive is intertwined with
treatment and practice, therefore related research regarding information capture
and documentation practice, including the roles of recordkeeping professionals,
are included. Furthermore, the impact of e-government and New Public
Management are identified as issues of importance in the way the society is
changing which in turn affects stakeholders’ use of information and can be seen as
a possibly professional challenge. This is followed by a section presenting related
research on recordkeeping awareness, i.e. how well recordkeeping and the work of
31
recordkeeping professionals within public organisations are understood. This
chapter concludes with a summary of the related research presented.
3.1 Changing Status and Function of the Public Archive
Archives are to be seen as products of their time (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 69). It is the
governance of the society that has defined the function and concept of the archive,
i.e. the public administration (Saarenheimo, 1997). Körmendy discusses changes in
archives’ philosophy and functions at the turn of the 20th/21st centuries and states
that: “the archives steadily get signs from the society. The archival community
processes the signs and gives professional responses (it manages the problems),
and this is also a kind of sign but this time it is sent from the archives to the
society”. This is what Körmendy describes as “an iterative game”, but it is the
archivists that must adapt to society, which is characterised by ideas and values
such as free market and fair competition, equality, freedom and democracy
(Körmendy, 2007, p. 168). Currently, the archive as a function is of paramount
importance since there is an explicit wish in the ongoing e-government
development agenda to use the archive more strategically using information
technology (IT), which, consequently, raises questions regarding the concept and
function of the archive from an archival scientific point of view.
The term ‘archives’ can have several different meanings, as stated by
INTERPARES: 1. the whole of the records of a creator; an agency or institution
responsible for the preservation and communication of records selected for
permanent preservation, and; a place in which records selected for permanent
preservation are kept (InterPARES Project - International Research on Authentic
Records in Electronic Systems, 2002). Pearce-Moses (2005) makes a broader
definition and includes the professional discipline and the collection practice as
well as published collections of scholarly papers. However, for public archives, the
national context, i.e. the legislation, establishes which records are needed in order
to fulfil requirements (Iacovino, 2005) and therefore represents the importance and
the functions of the archives as well as giving recordkeeping professionals the
mandate and sanctions for their practice. To summarise, there are distinctions
between definitions depending on theoretical and national context.
The following subsections aim to outline some important milestones regarding
the public archive as a function. First, a historical retrospective is given in order to
make a synthesis of the development of archives. Secondly, the importance of the
French Revolution is highlighted as a starting point for the modern history of
archives. The third subsection describes the development of archives after the
Second World War as a result of the increasing bulk of paper-based records. The
fourth and final part addresses the impact of electronic recordkeeping and the
Internet.
32
3.1.1. A Historical Retrospective
In order to make a synthesis of the development of archives as an institution
understandable and “growth of archival thought” Posner studied archives in the
Ancient world: clay tables archives; Pharaonic Egypt; Greece, Persia, Alexander the
Great, and the Seleucid Empire; Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, Republican Rome,
Imperial Rome; Parthian and Neo-Persian empires. Posner found basic types of
records that may be constants in records creation at all governmental, religious and
economic institutions: records including the laws of the land; as evidence of past
administrative action; financial and other accounting originating from the need of
a ruler or other authority to administer his domain and its resources; assuring the
rulers or other authorities income from land and persons not belonging to his
immediate domain; control over persons for purposes of military service, forced
labour and payment of capitation or personal tax; and of state agencies that
safeguard private business transactions between individuals (Posner, 1972, pp. 4-
5). In the ancient world there was no distinction between current records and
records no longer needed for business. Instead archives were all kinds of records,
which in fact made the term ‘archives’ not really appropriate when thinking of it as
a place for archives of different creators. This was also alien to medieval times.
However, in the Middle Ages a change in attitude towards the value of records
was developed as a result of the practice of copying. Important records, like
collections of charters, were copied to be available for frequent use, and the
originals were protected. Posner consider this to be the beginning of a recognition
of the research value of records that resulted in a distinction between current
records and records preserved for their long-term value (Posner, 1972, pp. 4-5).
3.1.2. The French Revolution – A Starting Point
The French Revolution is considered as a starting point for the modern history of
archives because the archives were regarded as a national property and the
principle of publicity of archives was proclaimed (Duranti, 1989, p. 8; Lokke, 1968).
It was the first time citizens had the right to access public archives (Duchein, 1992,
p. 17; Posner, 1940, p. 162). At that time, the historical archives were transferred to
the national and departmental archives, while active records were maintained at
the offices of the new administration (Duranti, 1989, p. 8). For the first time there
was an established administration which included older material as well as record
creating agencies (Posner, 1940, p. 161).
During the 19th century the archival practice within the archival institutions
were performed by historians, which led to a different view of the archive as a
function where ensuring sources for historical research was prioritised (Gränström,
et al., 2000, p. 18). However, archives institutions have not only functioned as
repositories for historical records, they have also been important as symbols for
national memories and current political regimes and cultures. As stated by
33
Cunningham (2005, p. 22): “The ever shifting, always-contested form and mission
of the archive reflects the dynamic nature of human experience, aspiration and
activity in all its infinitely rich variety.”
3.1.3. The Second World War and the Increasing Volume of Records
In order to administrate the war, the governments produced massive amounts of
records, which resulted in an increasing bulk of paper that had to be dealt with
(Cook, 1997; Saarenheimo, 1997). For example, the American theorist, Theodore R.
Schellenberg contributed to the archival discourse by introducing a different way
of thinking in his work: Modern Archives, Principles and Techniques (Schellenberg,
1956). Schellenberg argued that records had primary and secondary values and
made a distinction between records and archives. Primary value reflected the
importance of records for the creator within the ongoing administration.
Secondary value reflected the importance of records for historical and cultural
functions for others than the creator (Schellenberg, 1956). This view differed from
that of Sir Hilary Jenkinson, who in his famous work on archival theory and
practice: A Manual of Archive Administration, made no distinction between records
and archives. He stressed their custodial history, organic structure and the natural
process in which archives were created, and these qualities gave archives value as
evidence of the past (Jenkinson, 1922). In 1955 Sir Hilary Jenkinson maintained that
his arguments published in 1922 were vital (Saarenheimo, 1997).
Nevertheless, the increasing bulk of paper to handle made an impact on how to
organise and administrate archives. Different countries dealt with this issue in
different ways and found different solutions. For example, records management
became an ‘American solution’, which led to the establishment of a new
occupational group which was responsible for the records before they were
transferred to the archives (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 66). See section 3.4.1 for a more
detailed description about records managers as a profession. Within the Nordic
countries, archival authorities were given extended power compared to the rest of
Western Europe, which increased and developed the relations between the public
sector agencies and the archival authorities (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 65).
Consequently, the increasing bulk of paper had impact on the recordkeeping
practice. However, new recordkeeping challenges were expected, namely the
impact of electronic recordkeeping and the invention of the Internet which affected
the traditional archival landscape (Dollar, 1992).
3.1.4. The Internet, Electronic Information and E-Government
The establishment of the Internet during the 1990s created new opportunities for
communication. In addition, it made it possible to use information differently in
comparison to paper-based information. Worrall (2011) claims this is only the
beginning of a long journey that will change organisational cultures, work
34
practices including citizens´ attitudes about how to use digital information. It will
impact the interaction between public organisations and the citizens and therefore
it certainly will change public administration (Chun, Shulman, Sandoval, & Hovy,
2010; Dollar, 1992; Fang, 2002; Fountain, 2001; Gallego-Álvarez, Rodríquez-
Domínquez, & García-Sánchez, 2010), e.g. affect recordkeeping.
Most countries, cities and municipalities have strategies, policies and stated
goals concerning e-government (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011). In addition to national
policies and programmes there are trans-national programmes issued by the
European Union (EU) (European Commission, 2011; Goldkuhl, 2009). There is a
widespread tendency among many countries to use the concepts ‘open
government’ and ‘transparency’ in order to facilitate for citizens to follow
governmental decision making as a fundamental democratic right (Pollitt &
Bouckaert, 2011, p. 110). Many countries need to adjust their privacy legislation in
relation to e-government development. There is a risk identified by Pollitt &
Bouckaert (2011, p. 110) that politicians and their officials find new ways of having
discussions off the official record. Maybe this is a result of the many political
scandals with significant national political consequences that were revealed
between 1988 and 2008 (Castells, 2009, pp. 450-472).
Nevertheless, there is a tough competition in the world when it comes to
creating an effective e-government organisation, not least between the EU and the
USA, which seems clear from all benchmarking studies and research reports that
are continuously being carried out (Commission of the European Communities,
2009; Graafland-Essers & Ettedgui, 2003; Guijarro, 2007; United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2009). The political overall aim to
develop and implement e-government is not reduced to only single public
organisations, rather the political ambition covers different political levels, globally
and nationally, of which the European eGovernment Action Plan is a good
example, where the political ambition is to facilitate the conditions for the
development of cross-border e-government services provided to citizens and
businesses regardless of country. There are four political priorities identified:
empower citizens and businesses; enable efficiency and effectiveness; reinforce
mobility in the single market; and create the necessary key enablers and pre-
conditions to make things happen (European Commission, 2011), as described in
section 2.4.1. In the United States four services sectors have been identified:
Government to Citizen (G2C); Government to Business (G2B), Government to
Government (G2G); and Intra-Government Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness
(IEE) (Evans & Yen, 2007, p. 49).
3.2. The Legal System and Recordkeeping
Archives of all European countries were given a legal status regulated by
regulations and laws during the 19th and 20th century (Duchein, 1992, p. 21). The
35
national context is of paramount importance in order to understand recordkeeping
in public organisations, since it is the legislation that states which records are
needed in order to fulfil requirements stipulated in the legislation (Iacovino, 2005).
One might argue that it is the legal system that defines the archive. Overall, the
legislation represents certain values in a society (Goldkuhl, 2009, p. 81). However,
the legal system is not static, it is changing in relation to the surrounding society
(Duranti, 1989-1990), and so is archival science (Cook, 1997). This section outlines
why archives are seen as important to serve as tools for democratic control and
accountability as well as the public’s need to have the right to access information.
3.2.1. Democratic Control and Transparency
Public archives are not only powerful tools for political regimes; they are also a
prerequisite for democratic control and transparency. Public archives are valuable
because of their informational value and their contextual value as products of
organisational processes. The information in itself does not speak for itself; it has to
be seen within a context. As stated by Cox & Wallace (2002, p. 1): “Even if the
records of a society or organization are not used in the way they are intended, the
process of creating and maintaining records takes on powerful symbolism for that
society or organization”. Therefore, the archives can be considered as a public
good in a democratic society because it makes it possible for citizens to know how
they have ruled themselves and to make them understand their place in the
communities to which they consider themselves to belong (Cox & Wallace, 2002;
Eastwood, 2002). Authentic records are fundamental for organisational, personal
and collective accountability. Accountability is equivalent to transparency,
openness, trust and responsibility (Iacovino, 2010, pp. 181-182). Cox and Wallace
(2002) together with several scholars are using case studies to demonstrate how
accountability can be served or undermined by recordkeeping practices in many
contexts.
There are several examples where access to public records have been identified
as vital to serve individual needs of information long after serving the business
needs. Like for example the recent Swedish governmental investigation report
which aimed to provide recommendations for compensation and vindication for
the individuals who had been victims of abuse and neglect due to social child and
youth care between 1920 and 1980. As a result the Swedish government made a
decision to compensate the individuals, but only in those cases where it could be
proven by records (SOU 2011:9). Another example is retrieved from Norway where
the Norwegian government approved a compensation for World War II children
with Norwegian mothers and German fathers who had been victims of harassment
and maltreatment. The compensation here depended, in addition, on the records
(Valderhaug, 2011).
36
3.2.2. Freedom of Information
Freedom of information legislation gives the citizens the right to access
information and follow the process of government decision making. Effective
recordkeeping will ensure that these objectives will be fulfilled (Shepherd, 2006).
For example, the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act (SFS 1949:105), first stipulated
in 1766, ensures that the public has the right to free access to all official documents,
which is an important legislation for the promotion of democracy and
transparency for the Swedish society (Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 64; SOU 1988:11, p.
59). In 1980 there were only few countries that had a freedom of information
legislation. However, there has been a rapid development, and by 2005, 59
countries had adopted this kind of legislation (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011, p. 110).
Even though there seems to be a desire to promote open government and
transparency there are also privacy and security issues that need to be solved. It is
vital that information dealing with privacy and security issues is treated in a secure
environment (Arnesen & Danielsson, 2007; Chun, et al., 2010; Evans & Yen, 2005;
Löfstedt, 2010). The fact that freedom of information can be interpreted differently
depending on the national context makes it complicated to develop systems for
exchanging information across national borders (Magnusson Sjöberg, et al., 2011, p.
348).
3.3. Information Capture and Documentation Practice
Within archival science fundamental concepts applied to archival material and its
treatments as well as the practice have been seen as intertwined (Eastwood, 2010,
pp. 4-5). Methods have been created on how to facilitate access and control records
as well as ensuring accountability. This is constantly developing in relation to the
changes in the nature of records, the organisations that create records,
recordkeeping systems and the uses of records, since it is a part of a wider societal
perspective (Cook, 1997, p. 20). Information is a prerequisite for organisations’
internal and external communication. Bureaucratic organisational structures
provided stability for recordkeeping and the information flows were adapted to
the hierarchical, pyramidal structures. However, information technology changed
the nature of records and made it possible to transform organisations (Bearman,
1994, pp. 256-261). The technical development has gone from data processing on
mainframes in the 1970s and 1980s to networks on PCs in the 1990s. This change
includes the way business and recordkeeping is conducted because, as argued by
Hurley, “re-engineering of business systems has not been matched by appropriate
re-engineering of the recordkeeping systems which support it” (2004, p. 8). The
International Council on Archives (ICA) makes a distinction between business and
records systems. ICA identifies business systems as automated systems that create
data and manage data about organisations’ activities to carry out its legislative and
administrative responsibilities (International Council on Archives, 2008, p. 8). A
records system on the other hand is defined in more general terms as an
37
“information system which captures, manages and provides access to records over
time” (International Organization for Standardization, 2011, section 3.4.4). In
addition to the challenges of how to define different kind of systems, which may
impact on how to value the information as records, it seems that the bulk of
records are created in the business systems (Reed, 2008, p. 9). In fact, electronic
administration includes different kinds of systems (Fang, 2002) which pose
managerial, technical and operational challenges (Karapetrovic, 2002).
In the 1980s hierarchical organisational structures were increasingly replaced by
more flattened, process-oriented structures rather than based on functions.
Information became an important resource in order to meet business and quality
requirements (Castells, 1996, p. 164; Kjölstad, 2005, p. 87; Sahlén, 2005, pp. 15-19).
Information is essential within e-government strategic ambitions and will likely
impact functions regarding information capture and documentation practice. The
term ‘functions’ refers to Kjölstad’s definition; connected to the organisation’s
processes (Kjölstad, 2005, p. 87). Yakel uses the term ‘archival representation’ to
refer to “both the process or activity of representing and to the object(s) produced
by an instance of that activity”(2007, p. 151). In this section the term ‘information
capture and documentation practice’ refers both to the systems and processes for
the creation and capture of records and how this is changing due to e-government
aspiration. This section aims to outline an overview of what has initiated and
contributed to shape functions for information capture and documentation practice
over time in relation to the surrounding society.
3.3.1. Registration as an Administration Tool
In order to facilitate information retrieval, records are registered when created and
captured. This is not to be mistaken for archival descriptions, which traditionally
have been done after the records have been transferred to the archives. Upward
identifies the registration process as vital in order to manage “complexity and the
formation of the archive” and to avoid “recordkeeping problems” (Upward,
McKemmish, & Reed, 2011, p. 215). Duranti describes registration classification to
each record as to “permanent its relationship with the action in which it
participates and with all previous and subsequent records resulting from the same
activity”. Furthermore, registration provides “evidence of the recorded interactions
between the creating body and the external world”. Both classification and
registration contribute to guarantee trustworthiness of records and narrows down
what is defined as the ‘archival bond’ (Duranti, 2010, p. 85).
Different kinds of registration have been used over time in order to create
“starting points”, i.e. directions for how to find information when needed, often
detailed registers with information about a certain person, object or a specific
matter (Nilsson, 1978, pp. 105-109, 1986, pp. 33-36). Schellenberg postulates that the
registry system might be the oldest known system for keeping records in order and
he refers this back to ancient Rome (Schellenberg, 1956, p. 65). Different registry
38
systems connected to the national contexts have been developed over time
(Schellenberg, 1956, pp. 65-71).
Kjölstad (2005) states that it is likely that the first scriptures in registration were
written and printed already in 1571 in Heidelberg by Jacob von Rammingen when
he identified registration in addition to archive management as fundamental to
meet legal requirements and mutual obligations between the nobility and the
people. Von Rammingen was followed by others. What united them was the belief
that registration was an as important legal as administrative tool (Kjölstad, 2005, p.
49). This tradition is reflected in the fact that the registry system was implemented
in Germany and Northern Europe, i.e. each document was classified according to a
predetermined scheme at their creation or arrival in the public agency (Duchein,
1992, p. 18; Sundqvist, 2009, p. 62). In Denmark-Norway the first registration can
be found in 1600 (Marthinsen, 2012, p. 219). In Sweden the oldest preserved journal
consists of royal letters and is dated 1551 (Sundqvist, 2009, p. 79). To begin with the
registration was very simple and done chronologically in order to keep control of
the business matters (Nilsson, 1978, pp. 59-62). However, the system developed,
and a more systematic approach was undertaken (Sundqvist, 2009, p. 79).
3.3.2. Registration as a Business Development and Efficiency Tool
The need of citizens to access information in the society of today has grown and
there is a variety of channels and services offered run by various levels of
government, of which some of the functions are undergoing reorganisation and
being centralised. Often decentralisation in organisations has been preferable to
centralisation, as there is a perception that this is the most efficient form of
organisation. However, the more decentralised an organisation is, the more
coordination is required in order to keep the organisation intact and to avoid
economic sub-optimisation (Abrahamsson & Andersen, 2005, p. 65). The structure
of an organisation is decided by those in charge who controls the organisation. The
selection is made under restrictions imposed by technological, economical and
political conditions. Strategy, technology, the market and size are limitation factors
(Abrahamsson & Andersen, 2005, p. 272).
There are examples of changes in information capture and documentation
practices that different kinds of organisations have carried out and are working
with, which will likely impact on recordkeeping, i.e. call and contact centres;
centralised archives and registry functions; and centralised service centres. Several
countries have implemented call and contact services during the last years where
citizens can interact with the public sector (Ambriola, Bertagnini, & Pratesi, 2007,
p. 158). New York, as an example, is working under the motto “Your journey, your
way: choices, connections and a guide to the sweet path in government portal
modernization” (Center for Digital Government, 2009). There are differences
between a call centre and a contact centre in interacting with the citizens. A call
centre represents a simple way to interact, since they provide information fast to
39
the citizens when needed. According to Ambriola, et al. (2007) the concept of call
centres has a history back to the 1960s and private businesses. They were first
established to handle standard complaints, often equipped with a ‘toll free
number’, served by human operators. The first call centre was established by Ford.
The developments of information technology made call centres adopt ACD
(Automatic Call Distributor) systems. The system made it possible to receive and
distribute a large number of phone calls, still in interaction with human operators
(Ambriola, et al., 2007). Business process offshoring using developing countries
became has been a trend since the beginning of the 1980s (Owens, 2013).
During the 1990s the call centres continued to develop with the help of
improved information technology and the interaction was carried out with human
operators. Their primary aim was to address the customer’s need in order to
improve the value of the services of the company. Since the beginning of the 2000s,
new communications like mail, fax, web etc., in addition to telephones, have made
their entrance, i.e. the use of various information channels, and the human
operators have become more specialised (Ambriola, et al., 2007, pp. 158-159).
Corral (2010, p. 5) refers the evolution as being a result of the establishment and
development of the Internet as “internet of pages to the internet of service”, i.e.
from one way communication to a two-way communication. The increasing
number of information channels led to a change in definitions, where the definition
‘contact centre’ replaced ‘call centre’ (Strandberg, et al., 2006, p. 10). In addition,
the public is seen as a source of innovation, which has resulted in the evolution of a
‘user-centric approach’ in which innovation and business are keywords in
developing public services (Corral, 2010; European Commission: Directorate
General of Communications Networks, 2013).
Since the mid nineties, inspired by the private sector, the public sector has had a
similar development known as contact centres. Different channels like telephone,
text messages, e-mail, web etc. are used not only to interact with the citizens, but to
further include different public government bodies. The contact centre functions as
an interface in the form of a single contact point towards the citizens, integrating
the organisation. Moreover, in order to meet the citizens’ specific needs, specific
professional skills are often available (Ambriola, et al., 2007, pp. 160-161).
In December 2009 the first European standard for contact centres was published
(SS-EN 15838:2009). This standard affects everyone in some way involved in
customer contact and indirect customer communication in the form of customer
service, telemarketing, support, help desk or information services. The standard
describes what it takes to provide quality service and is a good starting point for
customer contact centres that would like to work with quality issues. Indirect
customer communication is an area which has evolved tremendously in recent
years. The European Commission therefore gave the European standardisation
body CEN the task to develop a standard for customer contact centres to maintain
quality in their services and act in a professional manner. Work began in October
40
2006 and was completed in December 2009, when the standard was published in
English and then in Swedish in March 2010. The Swedish Technical Committee
SIS/TK 503 actively participated in the development of the European standard,
together with other experts from more than 16 countries. In autumn 2012 a project
was initiated together with 26 members in order to develop a new ISO standard in
the field. The title of the draft is ”Guidance for customer contact centers”. A first
ISO meeting to discuss the scope and title was held in Brussels in July (Edmark,
2013; Swedish Standards Institute, 2013).
In addition to citizen/customer focused centralised functions, a similar trend
seems to be on the rise in internal services for public organisations. For example in
Sweden a national centralised service centre, ‘Statens servicecenter’, was established
in 2012 in which the government offers digital services regarding payroll, financial
management and e-procurement towards other government agencies at national
level (Swedish National Service Centre, 2012).
Registry functions with long traditions in public organisation administration
have also been the focus of centralisation efforts both at local as well as national
government levels in order to increase quality and efficiency. An example is the
Swedish project entitled e-archive and e-registry (eARD) at national public sector
level (Kristiansson, et al., 2013). The project is described in more detail in section
2.4.2 – 2.4.3.
3.4. Professional Challenges
Within archival science the uniqueness of recordkeeping management knowledge
have been related to the knowledge of what records are, how they are used and
how to make and keep them (Bailey, 2007; Hurley, 2004). However, the relation
records-archives is not always clear, which is illustrated by a statement made by
Eastwood: “archives are made up with records and records make up archives”
(2010, p. 4). Nevertheless, within archival science there has been a long tradition of
the relation between theory, treatment and practice (Eastwood, 2010, pp. 4-5),
therefore changes in recordkeeping will likely impact on recordkeeping
professions and vice versa (Pederson, 2005; Ridener, 2009). This section aims to
define and present traditional professions linked to the recordkeeping practice, e.g.
archivists, records managers and registrars. The term ‘profession’ can be
interpreted in several different ways depending on the theoretical context. The
definition that will be applied in this study refers to Hellberg’s definition:
A profession is a group of professionals that has a certain knowledge, to
which the public (State) and clients are valued as useful and valuable.
The knowledge is based on science and forms the basis of the
professional group claims to positions in the labor market and in society
(Hellberg, 1995, p. 91).
41
A theoretical presentation on professions will be outlined in chapter 5. This chapter
aims to identify professional challenges in relation to differences in contexts, the
transition from paper-based to electronic recordkeeping and the impact of new
public management. First, the recordkeeping professions (archivists, records
managers and registrars) will be presented.
3.4.1. An Ambiguity and a Diversity of Recordkeeping Professions
The term ‘recordkeeping’ corresponds to McKemmish definition which covers
records and archives management activities (2001, p. 336) including professions
which traditionally, regardless of administrative tradition and national context,
have been associated with recordkeeping. The representation of the different
professions within public organisations depends on national administrative
traditions, i.e. administrative and legislative framework, which in turn is affected
by changes in the surrounding society. Therefore professions may operate
differently in different countries. In order to get a quick overview of the
definitions, a list has been compiled from different glossaries and standards as
presented in table 2:
Table 2. An overview of definitions of recordkeeping professions
Glossary Archivist Records Manager Registrar
InterPARES Glossary (InterPARES Project -
International Research on
Authentic Records in
Electronic Systems, 2002)
- - -
ICA Glossary (International Council on
Archives ICA, 2013)
- - -
International Records
Management Trust:
Training in Electronic
Records Management,
Glossary of Terms (Millar, 2009)
A person professionally
engaged in the
management and
preservation of archives.
The person in charge of
a records management
unit or engaged in the
records management
profession.
-
ISO 15489 Standard (International
Organization for
Standardization, 2001)
- - -
ISO 30300 Standard (International
Organization for
Standardization, 2011)
- - -
MoReq2010 Glossary (DLM Forum
Foundations, 2011)
- - -
42
Glossary Archivist Records Manager Registrar
National Archives of
Australia: Glossary
(National Archives of
Australia, 2013)
- 1. An officer responsible
for the creation, storage,
retrieval and disposal of
all recorded information
about an organisation´s
activities.
2. A user role with
designated
responsibility of
undertaking, monitoring
and managing records
processes and some
system administration
functions.
-
Society of American
Archivists: Glossary of
Archival and Records
Terminology
(Pearce-Moses, 2005)
1. An individual
responsible for
appraising, acquiring,
arranging, describing,
preserving, and
providing access to
records of enduring
value, according to the
principles of
provenance, original
order, and collective
control to protect the
materials' authenticity
and context.
2. An individual with
responsibility for
management and
oversight of an archival
repository or of records
of enduring value.
(Also records
administrator), n. ~ An
individual responsible
for the administration of
programs for the
efficient and economical
handling, protecting,
and disposing of records
throughout their life
cycle.
-
Unfortunately, ARMA International did not provide an online glossary on their
web page (ARMA International, 2013) which might have been interesting as a
comparison to the Society of American Archivists. However, what can be noted is
when searching for definitions via the Internet at professional associations,
national archives, research projects and standards, all selected in order to give a
presentation of both international as well as national definitions, the term
‘archivist’ was in fact not part of either of the glossaries presented by the DLM.
International Council on Archives, the National Archives of Australia, InterPARES
or in the ISO 15489 standard (DLM Forum Foundations, 2011; International
Council on Archives ICA, 2013; International Organization for Standardization,
2001; InterPARES Project - International Research on Authentic Records in
Electronic Systems, 2002; National Archives of Australia, 2013), although according
43
to the Universal Declaration on Archives, the role of archivists is recognised as
professionals serving their society in recordkeeping. Furthermore, archivists share
this responsibility collectively with for example other “information specialists”,
“public administrators” and “decision makers” (International Council on
Archives, 2010).
Nevertheless, the result of the glossaries and standards is interesting because it
raises questions concerning professional identity and status. The choice behind the
selection of the glossaries is motivated by their impact on current archival
thinking. But it may also indicate how professions are defined within different
contexts as well as how they are defined and seen by public organisations.
Furthermore it confirms the impact of management on recordkeeping practice,
since the standards are directed towards top managers and occupations in a broad
sense, focusing on the organisation as a whole (see section 3.4.4).
‘Archivist’ as a professional title can be defined in different ways, depending on
the context in which the professional is active. In 1940 Posner assumed that
archivists will gradually become recordkeeping experts:
We may assume that gradually the archivists will become the nations’
experts who must be consulted in all questions of public record making
and record keeping and likewise become the trustees who will safeguard
the written monuments of the past, of the present day, and of the future
(Posner, 1940, p. 172).
The title ‘archivist’ is related to how the society, including the governments, have
viewed archives, something that has changed over time, which is stated by
Schellenberg as: “An archivist’s authority is derived from the position and
responsibilities assigned to him in the government he serves” (1956, p. 119).
Jenkinson on the other hand stated that archivists should not be involved in what
archives are made of since their only concern was preservation, archivists should
“take all possible precautions for the safeguarding of his archives and for their
custody” (Jenkinson, 1922, p. 15). However, archivists could be asked for advice on
preservation (Jenkinson, 1922, p. 161). Jenkinson published his famous work A
Manual of Archive Administration in 1922 and by that time it was impossible to
imagine the future information technology development. Actually, the fact that
archives are changing in nature because of the information society development
has been one of the greatest challenges to deal with (Delmas, 2001; Dollar, 1992).
Archivists as professionals have a long tradition of higher education. For
example, in the middle of the 1800s the French Government decided that only
higher educated candidates from École des Chartes could be employed as
archivists at the French National Archives (Marthinsen, 2012, p. 69). This decision
confirms the value of higher education as linked to professionalism, since
throughout history, professions and higher education have been intertwined with
44
the state in the struggle between competing elites about resources and exercise of
power (Slagstad, 2001, 2006).
There are several publications that describe archivists as professionals. In
general, the image of the professional archivists has been closely connected to the
function of the archives as a user-centred place (Lizama Salvatore, 2012; Procter,
2010). Sometimes archivists have been portrayed as fossils and non-social
(Waalwijk, 2010, p. 31). In fact, some researchers have undertaken studies on
archivists temperament types (Pederson, 2003; Craig, 2000). One could say that the
professional archivist role and engagement mirrors the function of the archives as
it is seen within its contextual meaning, e.g. depending on stakeholders’ interests
in information retrieval. Posner was right about the need and importance of
professional expertise to safeguard records. Some years after Posner’s statement in
1940, archivists were facing the establishment of records managers. The records
management profession originates from the system of records management as an
American solution to handle the increasing administration at the public
organisations after the Second World War (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 66). There have
been discussions whether records management is a profession or not. For example
in Davies article “Loose leaves”, published in Records Management Journal 1989,
records management was seen as a phase (McLeod, 2010, p. 19). Several
technological advances (digital scanning, digital storage etc.) took place during the
1980s which had impact on records managers and as outcome journals like Records
Management Journal was launched, the records management profession was
established (McLeod, 2010). However, the records management profession is not
established everywhere. For example, in Scandinavia records management is
understood as a dimension of the archival function and therefore records manager
has not been an established professional group (Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 20;
Lybeck, 2003; Valtonen, 2007, p. 180). When reading the article “What is the
essence of records management” by Ryan, published in 2010, it basically describes
the same challenges as a Swedish archivist would be confronted with, such as
appraisal and retention within a context focused on business processes supported
by information technology, with legal and the business matters overlapping (Ryan,
2010).
While archivists have often been linked to the archive as a place of historical
records, registrars are linked to the registration of records, active in the centre of
the organisation’s administration (Saarenheimo, 1997, p. 58). The registration
process is vital in order to manage the archive holistically, as stated by Upward:
“There are examples of recordkeeping problems that could be solved if only our
records managers (and more senior managers) had a fuller understanding of how
registration processes are a first step in managing complexity and the formation of
the archive” (Upward, et al., 2011, p. 215). Here Upward mentions records
managers, and maybe this is because registrars as an occupational group has a
different meaning and different tasks, or even if it exists as a group, it depends on
45
each nation’s administrative and legislative traditions. For example, there have
been different register systems developed depending of different national contexts
of administrative traditions and practices (Hofman, 2005, pp. 143-144;
Saarenheimo, 1997; Schellenberg, 1956, pp. 65-71; Upward, 2005, pp. 213-217).
3.4.2. The Impact of Electronic Recordkeeping
Electronic recordkeeping makes it difficult to think in stages and therefore it could
be argued that there is no border between records and archive management, which
have traditionally shaped the practice where professionals operate. As a result,
some researchers argue that traditional definitions of professions, such as those
described above, should be replaced with the title ‘record keeper’. Hurley for
example argues that we must cease to use the titles ‘archivist’ and ‘records
manager’, and instead use the title ‘record keeper’ because recordkeeping will
pose a particular expertise area within information and knowledge management
which is a broader concept (Hurley, 2004, p. 16).
Already in the mid 1980s Atherton addressed the shift from paper-based to
electronic recordkeeping making it difficult to divide the life of a record into
records management and archive management as two main chronological phases
with separate functions and responsibilities. Life cycle thinking should be replaced
by a simpler model that reflects “the pattern of a continuum”, involving records
managers and archivists as a team (Atherton, 1985-1986, p. 48). When the records
continuum model was published by Frank Upward in 1996 it provided arguments
for strategic positions and pro-active thinking (Upward, 2005). A presentation of
the life cycle view and records continuum model is given in chapter 5.
A distinction between ’records’ and ’archives’ has created strategic problems for
archivists in a digitalised environment because electronic records requires pro-
activity in order to be preserved (Cook, 1997, p. 28). Bearman declared the
importance of archivists to work with documentation as a pro-active tool.
Archivists have long experience of working with archival descriptions. The
arrangement and descriptions were, according to Yakel, instruments for archivists,
helping them in their work, and could therefore create barriers for example for
researchers who did not have the knowledge of the classification system (Yakel,
2007, p. 151). However, as stated by Bearman: “Description is focused on records
both as the object being described and as the primary source of information”, while
“documentation is focused on the activity in the records-generated institution or
activity of the creator of the records in the case of manuscripts, as the object being
documented and as the preferred source of information”. Documentation attempts
to capture data between the activity and the document created or received in that
activity, which is necessary for the document to be able to serve as evidence
(Bearman, 1994, p. 224). The focus has moved from the archives as an entity to the
context in which it has been created and will be used, i.e. the relationship between
records and archives management, the identity and being part of a larger whole
46
(Hofman, 2005). According to Thomassen (2001) records are seen as ‘process-
bound’ information, since they are generated by work processes. As a result,
several National Archives have established new regulations regarding process-
oriented approaches on archives descriptions (See for example: National Archives
of Finland, 2012; National Archives of Sweden: RA-FS 2008:4). This requires active
participation in strategic planning and work with the processes in which records
are created and used. Understanding the functions, structures, processes and
context in which records are created is necessary in order to understand the value
of the records as well as manage, maintain and preserve them to fulfil their
purpose as evidence (Asproth, Borglund, Samuelsson, & Öberg, 2010; Borglund,
2008; Cook, 1997, pp. 44-46; Iacovino, 2010, p. 182; Upward, 2005).
What unites professional archivists, records managers and registrars are the
challenges related to electronic recordkeeping and there are trans-national projects
that are trying to find solutions by involving researchers from different national
contexts. An example of such a project is InterPARES – International Research on
Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (2013) established and
directed by Duranti at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in collaboration
with research teams from various nations and sectors. The researchers have
disciplinary backgrounds and represents specific competence on subject-matters
such as evidence law, history, computer engineering, diplomatics etc. (Duranti,
2010). InterPARES started in January 1994. The aim of the InterPARES project is to
contribute to the development of international policies, standards and strategies
for the long-term preservation of authentic electronic records. So far, there have
been four phases of the project. The current fourth phase focuses on digital records
entrusted to the Internet (InterPARES Project - International Research on Authentic
Records in Electronic Systems, 2013).
3.4.3. The Issue of Education
A new context demands new skills. Therefore, the issue of education is vital for the
profession, as expressed by Shepherd; “education sets parameters for professional
work, defines the scope for a profession, provides a gateway (and barrier) for the
entry and lays the foundation for career development” (Shepherd, 2009, p. 181).
Continuing professional development and life-long learning is important
according to Crockett. In addition to universities, professional associations are seen
as important for the professional development including mentoring, competency
standards and certification (Crockett, 2007; Fredriksson & Naeslund Lems, 2010).
The influence of electronic records on archival education has long been debated.
Already in 1994 Cox criticised how the archival profession handled the challenge
of archiving electronic records, even though this has been a topic of discussion
since the late 1960s. Cox presented suggestions on how to improve archival
education, e.g. archivists need to learn how to interact with other professionals in
order to advance the archival mission (Cox, 1994). Since then Cox has repeated on
47
several occasions that a solid foundation for professional education is still
insufficient (Cox, 2006, 2011).
The need of interaction with other professionals has been identified as
important by several researchers (i.e. Bailey, 2007, p. 123; Duranti, 2010; McDonald,
2010; Oliver, Chawner & Liu, 2011; Pearce-Moses, 2006) and to develop and apply
leadership skills to succeed and be a part of transformation and major projects or
technological change (Dearstyne, 2008). Furthermore, it is important for archivists
to be aware of changes and trends in society, i.e. “more than learning about
information technology”, for example legal, business, scientific, political, cultural
and social changes (Pearce-Moses, 2006, p. 5).
Several researchers have confirmed the need for archivists to work as auditors
in order to make their skills more visible, for example by routinely taking an
analytical approach to understand design and implementation or recordkeeping
systems including understanding organisations and their functions (Hurley, 2005;
Runardotter, Quisbert, Nilsson, Hägerfors, & Mirijamsdotter, 2006; Yakel, 2000).
However, in order to audit, skills are required to evaluate performance against a
predetermined set of standards or legislative requirements and to report the results
(Hurley, 2005, p. 240).
Since the recordkeeping practice is diverse there is a need for scholars to
collaborate and exchange research interests and results across nations in order to
strengthen and develop archival science, which will likely have impact on higher
education. The annual meetings arranged by the Archival Education and Research
Institute (AERI) programme since 2009 together with the European initiative
Archives and Records Challenges in the Digital Information Society (ARCHIDIS)
intensive program initiated 2011 can be seen as good examples of bringing
scholars, educators and students together (AERI, 2009; ARCHIDIS, 2011).
Nevertheless, the development of archival education reflects the “archival
landscape” of a country. For example, in Scandinavia where records management
and archive management are intertwined it is logical that archival and information
sciences are taught and studied together (Lybeck, 2003). Consequently, skills and
practices change over time, but it is difficult to define competency standards
considering the fact that the recordkeeping professionals’ practice is connected to
the context in which they operate.
3.4.4. The Impact of New Public Management
The impact of New Public Management (NPM) has been identified as challenging
by many professional groups from different sectors because it raises questions
about their future work, especially the question of their autonomy, but also their
discretionary judgment in their work and their efficiency and costs (Bezes, et al.,
2012). Practicing management is not dependent on occupational licences (Magretta,
2005, p. 13). Rather, management skills on behalf of professionals have become
important. Leadership has established itself as an important skill (Stenlås &
48
Hasselberg, 2010). A different view on management in relation to professions is
argued by Magretta (2005, p. 17), it provides a structure to make specialised work
performed by higher educated, skilled professionals productive, which is required
in order for organisations to be flexible so they can compete on a market
characterised by technological progress.
The concept NPM has been described by Gruening (2001) as a mix of theoretical
perspectives: management theory; public-choice theory; classical public
administration; neoclassical public administration; policy analysis; principal-agent
theory; property-rights theory; the neo-Austrian school, transaction-cost
economics; and new public administration. Therefore, the structures of NPM will
be reformed in relation to new problem situations, since it can be defined as “a mix
of values that seems to fit the current situation and solve current administrative
problems as well as possible, but it will not last forever”(Gruening, 2001, p. 20).
NPM emerged in the United Kingdom during Thatcher’s time as Prime
Minister and in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to economic
recession (Gruening, 2001, p. 2). NPM aimed to achieve a more effective public
sector, originally inspired by classical public administration thinking about
efficiency as a solution against corruption and incompetence where public
accountability as well as separation of politics and administration became
important elements (Gruening, 2001, p. 3; Hood, 1995, pp. 93-94). Their success
were adapted by several OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) countries during the 1980s (Gruening, 2001, p. 2; Hood, 1995, p. 93).
Another characteristic of NPM has been further use of information technology
which is manifested in the e-government strategic development where a lot of
focus is on efficiency and effectiveness efforts (European Commission, 2011; Pollitt
& Bouckaert, 2011, p. 7). The link between NPM and e-government is addressed by
Drüke in the following: “e-government creates a second chance for administrative
reform” (2007, p. 1451). Improvements can be accelerated by better use of
information technology for example by improving public services where the user is
put in the centre of services in order to increase quality and reduce costs (Corral,
2010; European Commission: Directorate General of Communications Networks,
2013).
Since NPM reforms are described to promote consistency, standardisation in
addition to accountability and therefore could undermine professionals’ power
and control their work (Bezes, et al., 2012; Stenlås & Hasselberg, 2010). However,
professional groups are not isolated entities; they are part of a context. In a context
of change some professional groups may disappear and new groups may emerge.
The professionals themselves as a collective group may also affect this
transformation depending on their strategies and motivation efforts to adapt to the
change (Bezes, et al., 2012).
In order to capture the possible effects of the NPM development as described, it
is interesting to note that the professional title ‘archivist’ was not part of any of the
49
glossaries presented by the International Council on Archives, the National
Archives of Australia, InterPARES, MoReq2010, or in any of the ISO standards
(DLM Forum Foundations, 2011; International Council on Archives ICA, 2013;
International Organization for Standardization, 2001, 2008, 2011; InterPARES
Project - International Research on Authentic Records in Electronic Systems, 2002;
National Archives of Australia, 2013), see table 2, section 3.4.1. However, the
scopes of the ISO standards are not directed towards a specific recordkeeping
professional group; rather they describe a process approach and specify roles for
top management and can be applicable in any type of organisation, e.g. a
framework for best practice, or as White-Dollmann sees it: as a tool to “help
records and IT-professionals to survive and perhaps even emerge within a
revitalized information management strategy” (2004, p. 44). Nevertheless, the
standards may offer new possibilities for recordkeeping professionals to be used as
a tool to support professional autonomy and as a way to evaluate, audit and raise
awareness of recordkeeping in the organisations.
3.5. RECORDKEEPING AWARENESS
This section seeks to define the concept of recordkeeping awareness and present
some examples of research undertaken and reports on lack of recordkeeping
awareness in public organisations.
3.5.1. Recordkeeping Awareness - A Definition
‘Awareness’ is a relative concept often associated with biology. The concept has for
example been used in research referring to communications and information
systems research (see for example Endsley, Bolté, & Jones, 2003; Endsley &
Garland, 2000) and learning (Marton & Booth, 1997). However, ‘awareness’ can
refer to knowledge or understanding about a social, scientific or political issue and
in that case it is about promoting awareness of a given subject. Within this section
the concept ‘recordkeeping awareness’ will be used similarly to the definition
stated in the ISO 30300:2011 standard as:
Responsibilities for records and appropriate training for all employees of
an organization that create, handle, or use records should be clearly
defined. This applies to contractors, other stakeholders and staff of other
organizations where business processes and the consequent records are
shared. Records awareness across the organization improves its
information base and increases effective decision making (International
Organization for Standardization, 2011, section: 2.4.5 Involvement of
people).
The concept ‘records awareness’ in this definition is not directed specifically to
recordkeeping professions, for example archivists. The concept is used more in
50
general to serve management interests, i.e. the organisation. However, since this
study uses legislation and also includes a more holistic view on records, namely
recordkeeping, the issue of long-term preservation is included. Therefore the
concept ‘recordkeeping awareness’ is applied and not ‘records awareness’.
3.5.2. Related Research
Some research has been undertaken on recordkeeping awareness in public
organisations, as illustrated by the following examples retrieved from New
Zealand, the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden. These examples have been
chosen because of the complexity and multiple challenges related to recordkeeping
awareness according to ISO-standard 30300:2011 as well as legislative
requirements, i.e. freedom of information and long-term preservation that they
illustrate.
3.5.2.1. New Zealand
In 2011 an article presented research findings from a study conducted in New
Zealand regarding the perceptions of IS/IT professionals about the role of records
managers and archivists in safeguarding digital records for the long-term. Since
there is a need for recordkeepers (archivists and records managers) to work
together with information and communication technology professionals in order to
realise digital preservation, the study examined awareness of issues associated
with digital archiving and the role of recordkeepers. An on-line survey was
designed and finalised during 2009 and was distributed to employees of
government organisations. The research findings indicated differences in the
perceptions of trustworthiness regarding abilities to manage paper versus digital
records. The result addressed a need for future research to identify and compare
‘cultural dimensions’ of information technology professionals and archivists since
an increasing understanding of their roles and expertise of recordkeeping is
essential if a successful digital archiving solution shall be achieved (Oliver, et al.,
2011).
3.5.2.2. The United Kingdom
A large study conducted and completed 2002 in the United Kingdom, found that
local authority archives lacked in resources and expertise in electronic records
management. Many of the interviewed archivists felt powerless as they were
aware that something had to be done; otherwise they risked losing evidential
records (Barata, 2004). A literature review examining the impact of the Freedom of Information Act on
records management services in public authorities in the United Kingdom, with a
special focus on local government, was undertaken in 2008–2009 in a research
project at the Department of Information Studies at University College London
(UCL) (Shepherd, Stevenson, & Flinn, 2009). The study suggests that there were
51
significant preparations for the full implementation of the Act, which came into
full force in 2005. Many authorities recognised the need to review retention
schedules and implement records management systems across a whole
organisation. But, the necessary cultural change and strategic leadership did not
follow, and there is little evidence that records management has changed
(Shepherd, et al., 2009).
A research project entitled the AC+erm Project – ‘accelerating positive change in
electronic records management’ – was carried out by the School of Computing,
Engineering and Information Sciences in Northumbria University from 2007 to
2010. The aim of the projects was to “investigate and critically explore issues and
practical strategies to support accelerating the pace of positive change in managing
electronic records”. The project focused on designing an “organisation-centred
architecture” using the following three perspectives: people, working practices and
technology. The first perspective included vision, awareness, culture, drivers and
barriers. The second perspective included processes, procedures, policies and
standards. The third and last perspective refereed to technology in terms of design
principles for delivering effective recordkeeping (McLeod, Childs, & Hardiman,
2010). During the project a mixed methodology were used: qualitative (views,
experiences, roles, expertise, challenges and practical solutions) and quantitative
(ranking of issues/solutions). The first phase consisted of a literature review of the
topic e-records management. The second phase, ‘investigation’, explored three
facets of designing organisation-centred architecture for electronic records
management (ERM): people issues, understanding work processes and systems
and technologies. The third phase ‘dissemination’ of the project’s findings were
conducted via the project website, project bloc, listservs and Twitter in order to
encourage and influence change and discussions. The research resulted in several
findings, for example: few organisation have articulated a vision for ERM; the
people, process and systems/technology aspects of ERM are linked; peoples issues
are predominant which are challenging since they concern “culture, attitudes,
awareness of records management and ERM issues, preferences, knowledge and
skills” (McLeod, et al., 2010).
3.5.2.3. Finland
A case study of documentation work in pre-trial investigation performed by the
police in Finland has been conducted by Valtonen (2007). The research suggested
that even though there was a strong “legalistic atmosphere for the operating
culture” it did not include the record management field. The research findings
confirmed an insignificant relationship between tasks, information systems and
information management. Records professionals’ participation in designing
recordkeeping information systems had been minimal. The records management
plan was neither an efficient tool in recordkeeping, nor was it well known
(Valtonen, 2007).
52
Mäkinen has undertaken a study of three Finnish organisations: an information
technology enterprise; a government agency; and a university. The study was
undertaken during 2004–2005 and 2009–2010. The aim was to examine challenges
of mobile work in relation to records management. Mobile work refers to, for
example, using laptop computers and other handheld devices to communicate. The
study was conducted by analysing records management policies and interviewing
mobile workers and records managers. However, this first organisation did not
have any records managers employed. The result confirmed that even though
there were records management directives in all three cases, the directives did not
support records management in mobile work. In addition, in two organisations,
the government agency and the university, the respondents were not aware of
records management instructions even though the instructions were available
upon request. The instructions were general in their structure and did not offer
enough guidance in practice. In the third case, the information technology
enterprise, managing records was equal to quality management and the mobile
workers did know how to handle their records, even though they did not relate to
this as records management. While interviews were conducted with 23 mobile
workers, only 2 records managers were interviewed. The records managers stated
that they did not have a lot of information about the extent of mobile devices and
the records created using them. The study pointed out an interesting issue;
recordkeeping in non-traditional settings poses challenges which contribute to the
complexity archival science is facing, since the research so far has focused on
electronic recordkeeping in ‘traditional office-bound’ contexts (Mäkinen, 2013).
3.5.2.4. Sweden
A research study was undertaken of the Swedish Aid Agency process of
implementing electronic administration, introducing new methods considering
legal requirements, since legal rules also apply to electronic documents. By
introducing a new system, the aim was to create a “modern archives organization”
with the right skills. This resulted in a changed role for archivist professionals,
from a traditional paper-based repository role to a more strategic role with
extended responsibility in order to ensure that the recordkeeping legislative
demands were fulfilled within the agency (Granath, Alariksson, & Axelsson, 2004).
A Swedish study of two local government bodies covering 17 ongoing
improvement projects, using interviews with project managers, was conducted in
2009 under the auspices of a research project at The Centre for Digital Information
Management. The project aimed at developing models for effective and long-term
management of electronic information mainly in public organisations. The article
analysed the problems identified in local government project implementation in
using the theories on change management, project implementation, e-government
and business process management. The result of the study confirmed that there
were several critical factors that needed to be addressed if local government bodies
53
are to effectively engage in e-government and stay accountable and transparent:
different systems being used make their integration impossible; and a strategy for
long-term preservation of information was unclear and not often considered
during the projects. In fact, personnel with skills in records and archives
management were often not involved or consulted at the procurement phase of the
systems (Kallberg, Svärd, & Sundberg, 2010). The study confirms previous research
findings conducted by Runardotter in 2007 that archivists have often not been
included or consulted in the purchasing process of IT systems, but archivists are
still expected to deal with old systems that have been replaced. Runardotter argues
that this might have to do with the role of the archivists being only vaguely
understood within organisations and the perception of their connection to paper-
based documents. Furthermore, there is a perception that paper-based archives are
considered to be ‘old-fashioned and out-dated’ and therefore archival issues in
general are low prioritised within organisations. As a comparison, digital solutions
can be more focused on financial gains and cost savings rather than future retrieval
of information. Runardotter (2007) further addresses the issue of there being
evidence that digital information is not even considered to be official documents .
According to a report published by The Swedish National Archives in 2010 on
national authorities’ current status on electronic recordkeeping, 97% of the national
authorities stated that they had electronic documents. At the same time 64% of the
authorities had no strategies for long-term preservation. 54% of the national
authorities declared that they did not have a system for long-term preservation. On
the other hand, 22% stated that they were working on finding solutions for long-
term preservation. Furthermore the same report published results on whether or
not the national authorities presented their electronic records according to the
obligatory archival description, to which 33% answered ‘no’, and 37% stated ‘to
some extent’ (Riksarkivet, 2010). The results of the study confirm that there is a
great need for recordkeeping improvements within the Swedish public sector.
3.6. Concluding Remarks
This chapter provided a background and an overview of research related to the
changing status and function of the public archive and the recordkeeping practice.
First historical milestones of significance was addressed; followed by a section
addressing the importance of the public archive functioning as a tool for
democratic control and accountability supported by the legal system
Since the legislation is significant in defining the archive, it also affects practices
regarding information capture and documentation. Therefore, a previous section
presented how traditional information capture practices, like registration have
been implemented and structured. In order to demonstrate the opposite to
traditional practices, various examples and trends were highlighted, which are all
results of influences retrieved from the private sector and now implemented in the
54
public sector due to e-government and NPM strategic ambitions to optimise
organisations. Changes regarding how the nature of archives has been viewed by
the society impact on professions active in recordkeeping. Therefore recordkeeping
challenges were demonstrated referring to context and the impact of electronic
recordkeeping and NPM. Finally, the last section discussed the concept of
recordkeeping awareness and demonstrated examples of related research in order
to illustrate the complexity of the challenges posed by e-government.
To summarise, undertaken studies indicate that the impact of information
technology has changed the way information is used and valued in public
organisations. However, there are barriers regarding legislation awareness and
recordkeeping in general, and in particular professional roles and skills of
archivists perceived and known by other professionals and managers operating in
the public organisations.
4. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
There is often confusion over the meaning and scope of research
‘methodologies’, ‘methods’ and ‘techniques’. Simply put, methodologies
are the epistemological paradigms, the normative assumptions and
ontologies which frame the researcher’s approach to ‘knowing’ and
investigating their world.
There are two prevalent methodologies in the archival world. First,
the set of ideas formulated about Archive Science since the
Enlightenment and influenced by modern, scientific thinking and
positivism: that archives are unconscious and therefore objective by-
products of bureaucratic activity, that records follow a predictable
lifecycle and that custody is integral to archival management. And
second, the Records Continuum approach, influenced by postmodern
thinking, and viewing recordkeeping as a continually interacting and
evolving set of contingent activities with individual, institutional and
societal aspects (McKemmish & Gilliland, 2013, pp. 92-93).
The methodological framework for this study is influenced by the records
continuum approach as described in the quotation by McKemmish & Gilliland. As
previously described, the overall aim of this study is to capture and analyse an
ongoing change in society, i.e. e-government development and its impact on
recordkeeping. In order to capture the ongoing change, the context of Sweden will
be used for the study because the Swedish recordkeeping legislation corresponds
to continuum thinking.
This chapter presents the methodological framework for the study. First, the
choice of research approach will be given, followed by a presentation of the
research setting. A detailed description of the research setting is important, since
the research questions have been formulated in relation to the Swedish context,
55
keeping in mind that Sweden can be used as a norm to represent continuum
thinking. Therefore, deviations from the recordkeeping legislation may indicate a
possible process of change, i.e. convey a version of the social reality being studied.
The presentation of the research setting is followed by a description of the research
design; data collection methods and research tools; data analysis; the research
process, e.g. a presentation of the different research activities in chronological
order; and concludes with a description of the research quality of the study.
4.1. Research Approach
The research approach for this study is qualitative. According to Creswell (2007,
pp. 37-39) the characteristics of qualitative research are: natural setting, researcher
as key instrument, multiple sources of data, inductive data analysis, participants’
meanings, emergent design, a theoretical lens being used connected to a concept
(in this case the ‘archive’) and sometimes to identify different contexts of the
problem, interpretive inquiry and a holistic account in order to contribute to a
bigger picture of the problem or the issue being studied. The qualitative approach
offers the best methods for exploring human behaviour and the context in which
they act, especially for investigating complex phenomena when very little is
known about them (Fidel, 1993, p. 222; Myers, 2009, pp. 5-6). A qualitative research
approach contributes to developing a complex picture of a problem or the issue
being studied. It is the complexity with multiple perspectives that contributes to a
bigger picture (Creswell, 2007, p. 39). Therefore, qualitative research is often
undertaken when seeking to explore change and development over time (Bryman,
2013, p. 365).
There are two main reasons to undertake a qualitative methodological approach
in this study:
The study of the relationship between e-government development and
recordkeeping awareness and practice is a quite a new phenomenon for
research and little has been written about it.
This research reflects and analyses an ongoing contemporary process
within a specific context that may have both immediate but also future
implications for recordkeeping. It is quite possible that the change could
impact on societal values connected to the status and function of the
archive.
4.2. The Research Setting: Local Governments – Municipalities
The choice of using municipalities as research setting for the study is motivated by
their complex organisational structures, their autonomy, and their multifaceted
56
business and responsibilities. This section describes the historical background and
development, which is important in order to understand the municipalities’
current organisational structure and the context of the recordkeeping practice.
4.2.1. Historical Development
The historical development behind local governments in Sweden goes back to the
1862 government reform (Häggroth, Kronvall, Riberdahl, & Rudebeck, 1999, pp. 8-
11). Before that, local self-government was extended to ‘the parish’, whose
activities were largely determined by privileges back in the 15th and 16th century
(Kaijser, 1962, p. 30). The Church of Sweden was divided into local units and each
unit, or ‘parish’, made decisions about financial matters, had responsibility for
poor relief and later on, from 1842, the elementary school. Each city had its own
regulations (Häggroth, et al., 1999, p. 8).
In the mid-19th century Sweden faced a major social and political
transformation. The local government reform in 1862 separated ecclesiastic and
secular affairs. The cities and rural municipalities became responsible for the
secular affairs and the state church´s parishes for the ecclesiastic affairs (Häggroth,
et al., 1999, p. 8). At that time Sweden went through changes because of
industrialisation and citizens from the rural municipalities moving into the towns
with economic changes as a result. The small size of most rural municipalities
became an increasing problem because it meant that solving local issues like social
welfare became difficult. By 1952, the rural municipalities had been reduced from
what had originally been 2,400 rural municipalities to 816 (Häggroth, et al., 1999, p.
14; Montin, 2007, p. 33). The continued urbanisation during the 1950s contributed
to the decline of the population and this led to a new boundary reform that was
completed in January 1974. There were 278 municipalities at that time (Häggroth,
et al., 1999, p. 14; Montin, 2007, p. 33). In conclusion, there were two major
municipal subdivision reforms implemented: the first in 1952 and the second in
1974.
There are currently 290 municipalities in Sweden, all of different sizes
according to number of inhabitants and geographical area (Sveriges Kommuner
och Landsting, 2013c). The smallest municipality according to number of
inhabitants is Bjurholm, located in the northern part of Sweden with 2,431
inhabitants. The largest number of inhabitants can be found in the capital,
Stockholm, with 864,324 inhabitants (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2012b).
Consequently, there are differences between the municipalities which affect
their resources. Nevertheless, all the municipalities are responsible to fulfil their
legal obligations.
57
4.2.2. Obligations and Organisational Structure
Municipalities and county councils are responsible for providing public services.
They have independent powers of taxation. Local and regional autonomy is
written in the Swedish Constitution:
1 § Swedish democracy is founded on the free formation of opinion and
on universal and equal suffrage. It shall be realised through a
representative and parliamentary polity and through local autonomy.
7 § Sweden has municipalities and county councils. The decision making
power in these local authorities is exercised by elected assemblies (SFS
1974:152).
The municipalities and county councils are legal personas whose establishments
are regulated in the legislation (SFS 1991:900). As previously described in section
2.1, all municipalities, county councils and regions are members of the Swedish
Association of Local Authorities and Regions ‘SALAR’, which is a politically
managed organisation (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions,
2013).
Membership in a municipality is compulsory for all municipal residents as well
as those who own real property in the municipality, or if you are assessed for local
income tax in that municipality. The municipal responsibilities are limited to their
own members (SFS 1991:900). A model of democratic participation in municipal
governance is presented in figure 1.
58
Figure 1. Democratic participation in Municipal governance (Montin, 2007, p. 31)
The municipalities’ main role is to carry out the responsibilities that are given to
them by the Swedish welfare-state. The purpose of the municipal reforms was to
create local welfare institutions with high professionalism (Montin, 2007, p. 36).
The Swedish Local Government Act (SFS 1991:900) gives the municipalities
great freedom to decide their local structure and they are good examples of
complex structures. Their organisational structure consists of politically controlled
local government committees with administrative departments that implement
political decisions and provide services to the public. The organisational structure
of local government is constantly changing. Committees are closed down and
amalgamated. The municipal councils are stable institutions in an environment of
rapid organisational changes.
According to the Local Government Act (SFS 1991:900, chapter 3, §§ 1–4) every
municipality is obliged to have a council. The council is obliged to appoint an
The State
Public Governance
Rule of Law
Political
parties
Council Executive
Committee
Municipal
autonomy Committees
Administrative
departments
Users,
customers,
clients etc.
Citizens
Voters
59
executive committee and the committee is required to fulfil the municipal
functions according to special regulations. The council is, since 1991, free to
determine the committee’s areas of responsibility and mutual relations (SFS
1991:900). The most common organisation is based on sectors, which means that
there is a committee and an administrative department for each sector (Montin,
2007, p. 39). The executive committee functions as a preparatory body for all
matters decided by the council (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 252). The sector
committees are primarily executive boards for sector departments, but to some
degree they also function as preparatory bodies. There are appointed officers for
the administrative departments (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 252). In a small number
of municipalities sector-wise committees are replaced by neighbourhood
committees responsible for a number of services in territorially defined parts of the
municipalities geographical area (Larsson & Bäck, 2008, p. 252; Montin, 2007, p.
40). Another organisation structure form is the politically based client-performer
model, which was introduced in the beginning of the 1990s and was adapted by
about 30 municipalities. However several of the municipalities have returned to
the sector based organisation (Montin, 2007, p. 40). There is also a model based on
collaboration between municipalities, where, for example, two municipalities can
share a committee for upper secondary school. This type of model has become
increasingly more common (Montin, 2007, p. 43). Figure 2 illustrates an example of
a sector based municipality.
Figure 2. Example of a sector based municipality
Council Public
Guardian
Electoral
Committee
Auditors
Executive Committee
Education Committee
Social Welfare Committee
Community Planning and
Environmental Committee
Culture and Leisure Services
Committee
Administrative Department with units
Administrative Department with units
Administrative Department with units
Administrative Department with units
Administrative Department with units
60
The municipalities are responsible for childcare and preschools, primary and
secondary education, social services, eldercare, support for the physically and
intellectually disabled, health and environmental protection, water and sewerage,
refuse collection and waste management, emergency services and emergency
preparedness. There are also other activities on voluntary basis, such as energy,
industrial and commercial services, housing, leisure activities and cultural
activities, with the exception of libraries which are a statutory responsibility (SFS
1991:900; Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2012b). Most of the tasks of
municipalities and county councils are regulated by special legislation. There are
also companies owned by the municipalities. According to Häggroth et al. (1999, p.
67) the most common municipality-owned and controlled companies deal within
technical areas like electricity, property management and heating supply.
A wide range of official documents are created or received by the different
committees and administrative departments within a municipality in order to fulfil
their responsibilities. There are multiple electronic records systems in a
municipality. Each committee often has its own electronic record system in order
to fulfil their special businesses’ need for information. For example, the committee
for social welfare have a system for social service matters and the committee for
education have a system for student registration and examination. In addition,
there is often an electronic document and record system with registry function that
fulfils the needs of general political decision making that is shared by every
committee in the municipality. Every committee produces minutes and matters
related to their political decision processes.
There are established routines on how to handle matters depending on the
authorisation to make decisions. In some matters administration officers are
allowed to make decisions after they have been given authority by the political
committee. The following matters cannot be delegated by decision making power:
matters relating to goals, scope or quality; requests to the council or appealed
requests; matters involving public authority against individual citizens if the
matters are of fundamental nature or of major importance; matters raised by
citizens ‘medborgarförslag’ and entrusted to a committee; or certain matters
specified in special regulations (SFS 1991:900, chapter 6, § 34).
4.2.3. Recordkeeping Practice
In addition to the enacted rules and regulations on recordkeeping by the Swedish
statute book, there are local rules and legislations within the municipalities. The
council has the right to establish archive regulations and policies on records and
archive management for the committees and companies within the municipality.
The council decides which one of the committees within a municipality should
function as an archival authority. Usually it is the executive committee that is
assigned to this task. According to the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782) one of the
archival authorities’ responsibilities is to audit the other committees’ and
61
companies’ recordkeeping within the municipality. Another responsibility of the
archival authority is to function as a repository for the archives, often after the
archives have been transferred for long-term preservation. The local municipal
regulation further clarifies the responsibilities between the archival authority, the
committees and companies within a municipality. The municipal auditor controls
how the archive regulation is carried out by the archival authority and reports to
the council (SFS 1991:900, chapter 9, § 9). Each committee´s archives are to be kept
separated from all other committee´s archives in accordance with the Archives Act
(SFS 1990:782).
Historically, at the time of the local government reform in 1862, it was not a
given to that the records managed within the local governments had the status as
official documents. In addition, there has not been any supervision of the
municipalities undertaken by the National Archives or the regional state archives.
In fact, it was not until 1937 when a separate act on secrecy was established, that
the municipals’ recordkeeping was regulated. Before that, regulations on secrecy
have been included in the Freedom of the Press Act and the municipalities were
not paid much attention. In the 1953 Local Government Act the regulations
concerning recordkeeping responsibilities including appraisal decisions was
established (Gränström, et al., 2000, pp. 51-53).
There are two occupations associated with recordkeeping activities based on
the freedom of information and archives legislation: archivists and registrars.
Archivists often carry out assignment on behalf of the archival authority and
therefore often have an audit and advisory function towards other authorities, i.e.
committees and administrative departments and companies owned by more than
50% by the municipality, how they fulfil the legislative demands on recordkeeping.
In addition, archivists often are responsible for the long-term preservation of
records that have been delivered to the archival repositories from the committees.
Registrars work with registration of official documents and day-to-day operational
management tasks at the political committees’ administration departments.
Registrars are the primary users of the journal and therefore have an important
function as information providers to information seekers (Sundqvist, 2009). See
also previous section 2.3.2 ‘Recordkeeping professions’.
Figure 3 illustrates the registration process in a simplified way, including the
process of handling a matter.
62
A document is classified
and registered by a
registrar and a matter is
initiated.
An administration officer is
handling the matter and
makes a decision and close the
matter.
The administration officer (or
the registrar) is responsible
for the registration of the
closed matter.
The matter is filed
according to the
retention and disposal
scheme.
The decision is dispatched to
the interested parties
concerned.
Figure 3. Example of a process of handling a matter including registration
4.3. Research Design
Different authors represent different qualitative approaches rooted in different
disciplines/fields, like for example interpretative research; ethnographic research;
phenomenological research; grounded theory; and case studies (Creswell, 2007, pp.
6-10). However, all approaches follow the same research process: introduction,
questions, data collection and analysis (Creswell, 2007, pp. 6-10). A narrative
approach focuses on exploring the life of an individual. A phenomenological
approach can be applied when trying to understand the essence of the experience
of a lived phenomenon, such as pain. Ethnography is used to describe and
interpret the shared patterns of the culture of a group. Grounded theory is
preferred when trying to develop a theory that is grounded in data from the field
(Creswell, 2007, pp. 78-80). The research method chosen for this study is case
study.
4.3.1. Case Studies
Case studies can be used in many situations to contribute to our knowledge of
individual, group, organisational, political, social and related phenomena (Yin,
2009, p. 11). According to McKemmish & Gilliland (2013, pp. 94-95), in-depth
single case or multiple case studies are suitable for exploring differences in
recordkeeping cultures and practice. The research design chosen for this study is a
multiple case study design (Yin, 2009, p. 46). Since this study seeks to capture an
63
ongoing change, all selected cases represent e-government strategic development
in relation to the concept of ‘the archive’, as defined within the recordkeeping
legislation. The cases were selected because of their strategic ambitions in e-
government development and will be used for cross-analysis.
Case studies can be used in order to construct a theory (Merriam, 1994, p. 70).
Behind the choice of case study for this study, is the aim to contribute to the
theoretical analytical framework, i.e. the construction of an analytical model for
analysis presented in chapter 5. The following figure presents the unit of analysis
in relation to the research questions and data collected.
Figure 4. The unit of analysis and data collected
4.3.2. The Cases Selected
The cases were chosen because they were identified in 2010 as good examples of
the development of e-government by SALAR. Their e-strategies were published at
SALARS´s web page and could easily be downloaded (Swedish Association of
Local Authorities and Regions, 2010). Since recordkeeping is regulated by the
legislation, the cases provided an opportunity to examine whether or not the
municipalities have embraced recordkeeping as important to their strategic
development. By that time SALAR had started to measure e-government
development based on the use of web surveys in order to establish the progress
being made with e-government development (previously described in section 2.4.5
SWEDEN: LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (MUNICIPALITIES)
RECORDKEEPING LEGISLATION AWARENESS
Strategic e-government work E-strategies decided at political level.
Information capture via centralised functions
Political decisions at political level.
Interviews with employees at workplace level.
Status of recordkeeping professions Interviews with archivists and registrars at workplace level.
level.tegies decided at political level.
64
‘Initiatives at Local Government Level’). The web survey was based on four major
areas: ‘governance and management’; ‘collaboration, IT costs and budgets’; ‘change
management’ and; ‘IT platform including soft and hard infrastructure’. In 2008 a
report was published by SALAR describing the result of the undertaken surveys
directed to all Swedish municipalities on three occasions: March 2006, June 2007
and June 2008 (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2008). However, since 2010
there has been a major change regarding the way SALAR presents and works with
e-government development. For example, in addition to SALAR’s representation
in the E-delegation, SALAR has published a report on strategy in 2011, and based
on this strategy report formulated and published an action plan for 2013–2015,
where municipal collaboration is highlighted as essential for the continued e-
government development (Jonasson & Glasare, 2011; Knape, 2011; Sveriges
Kommuner och Landsting, 2013b). In addition, SALAR has established a Centre for
E-Society ‘CeCam’ focusing of business process development and innovation for
future e-government development (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2013a).
According to the reports and activities undertaken by SALAR during the few last
years, electronic archives are now being addressed as important in order to reach
the strategic goal defined by SALAR as ‘eSociety’.
In addition to the cases selected from SALAR, the centralised registry project at
one municipality has been selected, since the project represents a strategic ambition
to meet efficiency requirements regarding information capture and documentation
practice posed by e-government development. The centralised registry project was
part of an explorative study in the beginning of the research process undertaken
during a course on business analysis. The case both complements and can be used
as a comparison to the cases identified by SALAR, in order to meet the research
aim of this thesis. The case both covers the issue of information capture and
documentation as well as the status of registrars. However, the main contribution
to the research findings of the thesis derives from the cases identified by SALAR.
Figure 5 presents the cases selected and their relation. The red and blue dotted
lines illustrate how the cases have been used for comparison.
Figure 5. The cases selected and their relation
J I H G F
A B C D E
65
The cases: A-I, represents municipalities chosen because they were identified as
good examples of e-government by SALAR (Swedish Association of Local
Authorities and Regions, 2010). In order to understand the complexity of e-
government development in relation to recordkeeping, the case data consist of all
the information referring to each case A-I: e-government development strategies
and interviews.
The case studies were initially explorative since my reason for selecting these
particular municipalities was to examine why they were seen as good examples
from a recordkeeping perspective. Therefore, an analysis was first conducted of the
e-strategies in order to identify their relation to recordkeeping (paper 2 and 4).
Secondly, interviews were conducted with archivists in order to understand their
role within this development (paper 3 and 4). The same research procedure was
undertaken for all municipalities A-I, making it possible to carry out cross-analysis
within the cases (at political level and workplace level) as well as between the
cases, as illustrated by the red marking in the figure. During the analysis of the e-
strategies an interesting phenomenon appeared: the establishment of contact
centres. A contact centre is a centralised function which aims to serve as an
interface towards the public and which is responsible for dealing with incoming
contacts using several information technology channels, i.e. capture information.
Therefore, interviews were undertaken with chief executive officers/project
managers responsible for the contact centre function or project (paper 5) in order to
examine the relation between documentation practices and recordkeeping
legislation awareness in a new context of information capture.
The case marked ‘J’ represents an evaluative longitudinal case study of a
centralised registry project which was part of an explorative study in the beginning
of the research process undertaken as part of a course assignment (paper 1 and 6).
Case studies are particularly valuable when an evaluation seeks to describe it in
detail and in context (Patton, 2002, p. 55). The examination of the case study meant
to cover the whole process from initiation to implementation and the challenges
identified within each of the steps, e.g. it gives an overall explanation to the whole
case from initiation to implementation. The study covered the time period 2006–
2011. Official documents such as political decisions have been used to describe the
initiation and the result of the pre-study; a project directive, as well as a final
project report, have contributed to describe the start and result of the planning
project; and interviews have been conducted with the registrars at the registry
function in order to explore and evaluate the process of implementation and the
status of the registrars. Like contact centres, registry functions have been
centralised. However, while contact centres have been established in order to
capture all kinds of matters, registry functions have a long tradition based on
legislative requirements, i.e. the public right to free access to information.
Nevertheless, they represent two different types of information capture functions
66
and therefore comparative analysis seemed appropriate, which is illustrated by the
blue dotted lines in figure 5.
Presented in table 3 are the cases selected according to the classification of
Swedish municipalities and statistics made by SALAR, based on population size
measured in 2009 (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2011).
Table 3. The cases selected
Cases Classification
Geographical location in Sweden
Represented in paper
A Suburban municipality
Middle region 2, 3, 4, 5
B Large city The south part of the northern region
2, 3, 4, 5
C Suburban municipality
Middle region 2, 3, 4, 5
D Large city South region 2, 3, 4
E Metropolitan municipality
South region 2, 3, 4, 5
F Suburban municipality
Middle region 2, 3, 4
G Large city North region 2, 3, 4
H Metropolitan municipality
Middle region 2, 3, 4
I Large city Middle region 2, 3, 4
J Municipality in sparsely populated
regions
Northern region 1, 6
According to the classification made by SALAR the municipalities are divided into
the following ten groups, based on parameters such as population, commuting
patterns, tourism and travel industry, and economic structure:
Metropolitan municipalities (3 municipalities)
Municipalities with a population of over 200,000 inhabitants.
Suburban municipalities (38 municipalities)
Municipalities where more than 50 per cent of the night
population commutes to work in another municipality. The
most common commuting destination must be one of the
metropolitan municipalities.
Large cities (31 municipalities)
Municipalities with 50,000–200,000 inhabitants where more
than 70 per cent of the population lives in urban areas.
67
Suburban municipalities to large cities (22 municipalities)
Municipalities in which more than 50 per cent of the night
population commutes to work in a large city.
Commuter municipalities (51 municipalities)
Municipalities in which more than 40 per cent of the night
population commute to work in another municipality.
Tourism and travel industry municipalities (20 municipalities)
Municipalities where the number of guest nights in hotels,
youth hostels and camping sites is higher then 21 nights per
inhabitant and the number of holiday homes is higher then 0,20
per inhabitant.
Manufacturing municipalities (54 municipalities)
Municipalities where more than 34 per cent of the night
population aged 16 to 64 is employed in manufacturing,
mining, energy, environmental and construction industries.
Sparsely populated municipalities (20 municipalities)
Municipalities where less than 70 per cent of the population
lives in urban areas and less than eight inhabitants per km2.
Municipalities in densely populated regions (35 municipalities)
Municipalities with more than 300,000 inhabitants within a
112,5 km radius.
Municipalities in sparsely populated regions (16 municipalities)
Municipalities with less than 300,000 inhabitants within a 112.5
km radius (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2011).
The cases selected and presented in table 3 are mainly municipalities with larger
population sizes, often located in the middle and south region of Sweden. In
general, most municipalities in Sweden are geographically situated in the middle
and south region of Sweden. There are fewer municipalities in the north region.
Several of these municipalise are defined as municipalities in sparsely populated
regions (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2011).
The number of inhabitants that pay taxes is likely to affect the municipality’s
resources to work with strategic implementation of e-government. Nevertheless,
business improvement initiatives can also be initiated by small municipalities,
which is represented by one municipality in the table marked as ‘case J’. Since the
operative work of municipalities is regulated by legislation, they are obliged to
fulfil their responsibilities towards their inhabitants, which likely means that all
Swedish municipalities, regardless resources, are struggling to meet the e-
68
government development initiatives initiated and promoted by the Swedish
Government (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011a). Figure 6 presents the number
of municipalities and their geographical boundaries in Sweden.
Figure 6. An overview of the number of municipalities and their geographical
boundaries in Sweden (Wikipedia, 2013b)
4.4. Data Collection Methods and Research Tools
Qualitative researchers use different sources for data collection. Patton defines
three kinds of qualitative data: in-depth interviews; observations; and documents
(2002, p. 4-5). Data collection usually involves fieldwork, e.g. the researcher being
directly involved in the setting studied (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005, p. 39; Patton,
2002, pp. 3-5). Different kinds of data collection methods, such as interviews and
documents, have been used in this study. Literature, mainly published peer-
reviewed articles, have been used for presentation of background descriptions and
related research. Interviews have been the main source of data collection.
Interviews have been used in order to explore the informant’s experiences,
understandings and skills, ways of perceiving problems and their possible
solutions. The advantages of using interviews are the more detailed and complete
answers and that it is possible to immediately clear up any misunderstanding
69
(Ejvegård, 2009, pp. 51-52), since an interview is a living transaction, intonation
and body language can be used in the communication between those involved in
the talk (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, pp. 144-146). It is important that the researcher
is aware of the balance between ‘passivity and over-direction’, e.g. if the
interviewer directs the interview too closely it can inhibit the interviewees to
express their own opinions and there is a risk that the collected data will lose
richness. However, if the interviewer is too passive, for example by not prompting
questions which follow the new directions taken by the interviewee, it can be
assumed that the researcher has no interest in the interviewee’s opinions
(Walsham, 1995, p. 78).
Another way of conducting interviews is to use focus groups. This involves
interviewing several people together (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005, p. 40). However,
the negative effects of focus groups are that some people can dominate and the
participants could choose a general opinion (Trost, 2005, pp. 25-26). Therefore,
individual interviews have been chosen as a data collection method in this study.
Documents have been used when examining the relationship between the
organisations’ strategic work and their actual work. It is important to understand,
when reviewing a document, that it was written for a specific purpose and a
specific audience rather than for those of the case study (Patton, 2002, p. 499; Yin,
2009, p. 105).
4.4.1. Interviews and Interview Schedules
The first step of the research was explorative and aimed to identify ongoing
business improvement projects which municipalities are working on in order to
discover possible challenges/critical issues. Two municipalities were selected
because of their role as stakeholders within the Centre of Digital Information
Management CEDIF project and because of their interest in working with business
improvement and electronic recordkeeping issues (Centre for Digital Information
Management 'CEDIF', 2013). 17 projects were identified. The investigation
provided an answer to what kind and how many projects were active and who the
project managers were and where they could be contacted for interviews. An
interview schedule was established and used as a research tool (see attachment 1 in
paper 1). The questions selected had a holistic focus from initiation to long-term
preservation of information and was structured in the following themes:
ownership and financing; duration; logic behind the project, project gains,
personnel involvement, customer orientation (citizens), information systems and
evaluation including long-term preservation of information. The interviews were
conducted face-to-face between June and October 2009. Notes were taken during
the interviews. The approximate time spent on each interview was 1 hour. One of
the projects, about a centralised registry function, has been used a longitudinal case
study (paper 6). Interviews with registrars working at the function have been
conducted at two interview sessions face-to-face at their place of work in 2010 and
70
2011. The interview schedule was designed in themes regarding: project
participation; reorganisation; competence; process development; and professional
identity (see appendix in paper 6). The same interview schedule was used at both
interview sessions. Each interview lasted about 1 hour. The interviews were
recorded after the interviewees had given their consent. The information were
compiled and sent out to the interviewees for comments.
Interviews were also used as a data collection method in step two. Nine
archivists representing nine municipalities identified as good examples of e-
government development by the SALAR were interviewed in January and March
2011. Four chief executive officers/project managers representing contact centre
functions were interviewed in March and April 2011. All the interviews were made
by telephone because of geographical distances. Estimated time for each interview
was 1 hour. An interview schedule with semi structured questions was used as
research tool and was sent out in advance by e-mail to the informants.
The interview schedule directed to archivists was designed into five themes:
background facts, professional practice, electronic recordkeeping, skills and future
role of the profession and finally an open question for additional comments. The
questions were designed to find out about the archivist’s personal thoughts,
feelings, experiences and expectations on their current and future professional role
in order to establish the archivist’s professional status, e.g. positions and practice
within the public organisations (see appendix in paper 3).
The interview schedule designed for the chief executive officers/project
managers at the contact centre functions was structured into themes regarding
function and organisation; e-services; registration; long-term preservation; and
skills and strategies for strategic development (see appendix in paper 5).
The interviews conducted in the second study were carried out similarly to the
first study: the interviews were recorded and notes were taken. The data was
compiled and sent out to the informants for information and comments. All
interviews conducted were recorded, after verbal consent by the informants prior
to the interviews. However, as a researcher it is important to be aware that
recording can make the interviewees less open or truthful (Walsham, 2006, p. 323),
but this did not seem to be of any concern for the interviewees. The interviewees
were also informed that the recordings were to be used for analysis and
transcripts.
The questions used in the studies were standardised because the interview
questions were the same as well as the interview situation (Trost, 2005, p. 19).
4.4.2. Documents
Documents were used as a data collection method where nine municipalities
identified as good examples of best practice of e-government by the SALAR were
selected. An analysis of e-government activities of these nine municipalities was
undertaken by analysing their e-government strategies. The e-government
71
strategies were presented at SALAR’s web page. The strategies were downloaded
from the web page in September and October 2010 (Swedish Association of Local
Authorities and Regions, 2010). The majority of the e-strategies were created
between 2005 and 2008; one of the e-strategies was, however, undated. The e-
government strategies were of interest in order to find out the extent of awareness
of the importance of recordkeeping in their strategic e-government work, since
they provided information on strategy motives, ‘why’, strategy goals, ‘what’ and
strategy methods, ‘how’.
Documents were also used as a data collection method in the longitudinal case
study of the centralised registry function. Official documents, such as political
decisions, project directives and project reports, have been used to describe the
initiation and the result of the reorganisation including the process of
implementation in relation to project goals.
4.4.3. Literature
Throughout the whole research process peer reviewed articles and literature have
been used to build up validity and theoretical level. The literature used has been
selected according to the different topics of the included articles and in this cover
paper. Databases that have been used are primarily Google Scholar, Academic
Search Elite and Emerald provided by the Mid Sweden University library. In order
to find literature, in addition to printed books on this issue, the following online
peer reviewed journals have been used: Archival Science, Archivaria, Archives and
Manuscripts, Records Management Journal and The American Archivist. In order to
describe the development and impact of e-government, reports and project
descriptions have been collected from the EU, the Swedish Government and
SALAR. In general, the literature represents both professional writing and research
papers, since there is a limited number of research papers published.
4.5. Data Analysis
The goal of qualitative data analysis is to gain understanding. Therefore it is
important to develop an understanding or interpretation that answers the research
questions. This section describes induction and deduction in relation to qualitative
methods in general, followed by a description of the data analysis process
undertaken in this study.
4.5.1. Induction and Deduction
Qualitative research is characterised as inductive when aiming to discover
patterns, themes and categories (Creswell, 2007, pp. 19, 38; Fidel, 1993, p. 219). The
research begins with exploration, then confirmation and ends with synthesis
(Patton, 2002, p. 41). According to Patton qualitative analysis is typically inductive
in the early stages, which corresponds to the experience of conducting this study.
72
When patterns, themes and categories have been established through inductive
analysis, the final confirmatory stage of the analysis may be deductive in testing
and affirming the authenticity of the inductive content analysis (Patton, 2002, pp.
453-454).
Patton gives an example of the difference between inductive and deductive
design comparing closed-ended questionnaires and open-ended interviews. He
states that a structured, multiple choice questionnaire requires a deductive
approach because “items must be predetermined based on some theory or
preordinate criteria”, e.g. what is important to measure (2002, p. 56). An open-
ended interview needs an inductive approach since it allows the respondent to
describe what is meaningful without any standardised categories. However, it is
not unusual that both approaches are combined (Patton, 2002, p. 56).
Elo and Kyngäs (2007) describe similarities and differences between inductive
and deductive content analysis and argues that content analysis is a method that
can be used with either qualitative or quantitative data and in an inductive or
deductive way. According to Elo and Kyngäs, both inductive and deductive
analysis processes are represented by three main phases: preparation, organising
and reporting. Both approaches are similar in the first preparation phase and differ
in the second and third phase. Inductive content analysis is used in cases where
there are no previous studies dealing with the phenomenon or when it is
fragmented. A deductive content analysis is used when there are previous studies
and theory to compare with (Elo & Kyngäs, 2007).
4.5.2. The Analysis Process
The analysis undertaken in this study has been carried out through an iterative
process (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005, p. 41) where the first step of the research process
aimed to develop an initial understanding of the settings. This understanding was
then tested through additional data collection and analysis. The processes of data
collection, data analysis, interpretation as well as research design are intertwined
and depend on each other (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005, p. 41). The overall research
process will be explained in more detail in section 4.6.
In this study, the e-strategy documents from the nine identified municipalities
were analysed by using content analysis, which is a research method based on the
analysis of documents where many words are compressed into categories and
themes (Elo & Kyngäs, 2007). Content analysis can be used as a method of
analysing written and verbal as well as visual communication messages (Elo &
Kyngäs, 2007, p. 107). Content analysis, which starts with the reading of a text for a
purpose, samples relevant text in order to answer given questions (Krippendorff,
2013, p. 37). In this case, the e-strategies were analysed based on why, what and
how the municipalities are working. In the organisation step: the motives, the goals
and the methods were described using a table in order to establish how aware the
municipalities were of the importance of recordkeeping in their strategic e-
73
government work. Each of the municipalities was analysed. Secondly, a list was
compiled of the identified current activities. These activities were ranked according
to the number of municipalities undertaking each activity. The findings were
analysed against key themes, which emerged from the analysis. The compiled list
of identified activities is presented as table 2 in research paper 2. The analysis
made it possible to identify whether the municipalities had incorporated
recordkeeping principles and practices in the processes. Figure 7 illustrates the
process of data analysis.
Figure 7. The process of data analysis
The questions used in the interviews were predetermined based on the theoretical
framework and therefore required a deductive approach (Patton, 2002, p. 56). In
this study the collected data from the interviews conducted have been analysed in
the following six steps (Creswell, 2009, pp. 185-190):
Step 1. Organise and prepare the data for analysis.
The raw data from the recordings were compared with the memos taken and
compiled according to the themes described in the interview schedules used.
Step 2. Read through all the data.
The data was read through in order to get a general sense of the information in
order to find out what is going on and what people are saying or doing in order to
develop ideas about the statements and their relationship to other statements
(Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005, pp. 41-42).
Step 3. Begin analyses with a coding process.
The data was systematically analysed to categorise statements and find variation,
in order to find patterns (Holme & Krohn Solvang, 1997, pp. 141-142). This was
done manually in steps, not using a software program.
E-Government development and
recordkeeping
Strategy motives
'WHY'
Strategy goals 'WHAT'
Strategy methods 'HOW'
74
Step 4. Use the coding process to generate a description of the setting.
The themes were analysed for each individual interview and for cross-case analysis
(Creswell, 2009, p. 189).
Step 5. Advance how the description and themes will be represented in the
qualitative narrative.
A sufficient description and direct quotations should be included since it allows
the reader to enter into the situation and thoughts of the participants represented
in the study (Patton, 2002, p. 503). In this study the interviews are represented by
quotations in themes and with tables presenting descriptive information about
each interviewee in the reporting. See research papers presented as 3, 5 and 6 in the
second part of the thesis.
Step 6. A final step in data analysis involving an interpretation of meaning
of the data.
The findings derived from the first interviews identified several challenges, and
made the researcher extend and deepen the research to include municipalities
identified as good examples by SALAR. The findings also contributed to the
creation of an analytical model used as a theoretical lens of analysis for the overall
findings, described and presented in chapter 5.
The reason for using different data for analysis is to use the findings as a
representation of the ongoing process this study seeks to capture. For example, the
interviews convey information beyond the individual’s own experiences and
feelings; it contributes to reflect something outside themselves which is
contextually situated. Hence, it is not the individual that is the primary focus; they
are seen as indications of the ‘discourse’, i.e. “a mode of reasoning about and
shaping the world that structures language use and experiences” (Alvesson, 2002,
p. 117). Discourse is a term that have many meanings, and discourse studies have
been conducted in various fields of research (see for example: Börjesson &
Palmblad, 2007; Machin & Mayr, 2012; van Dijk, 2011). In archival studies,
discource studies have been conducted for example when exploring trends in
theory and practice; the development of policies and laws; and constructs of the
archive (McKemmish & Gilliland, 2013, p. 95), i.e. research similar to the research
topic addressed in this study.
4.6. The Research Process
The results presented in this thesis derive from four years of doctoral studies. The
following section describes the overall research process during this time. However,
the process of data collection and analysis have been previously described in this
chapter, therefore detailed information regarding this is not included. The main
focus is on the research steps.
75
The aim of the research was to capture and analyse an ongoing change in
society, i.e. e-government development and recordkeeping nexus. The following
research questions were addressed:
How aware are public organisations of the importance of recordkeeping
legislative demands in their strategic e-government work?
What is the relationship between documentation practices and
recordkeeping legislation awareness within a new context of information
capture?
What is the status of recordkeeping professionals (archivists and
registrars), e.g. positions and practice within public organisations?
The research aim and the research questions were not evident in the beginning of
the research process. Therefore, the first step taken in the research process was
explorative and aimed to give an overview of business process improvement
projects that municipalities are working with in order to identify possible
challenges and critical issues. Projects are interesting because a project model
symbolises change and indicate that an organisation is actively working with
organisational development (Görling, 2009, p. 76). This explorative first step was
taken in collaboration with a doctoral student colleague as part of a course in
business analysis. Project managers representing two municipalities were
interviewed. Both municipalities were stakeholders in the Centre of Digital
Information Management (CEDIF) project because of their interest in working with
business improvement and electronic recordkeeping issues. The selection of project
managers was made by contacting the heads of the administration departments by
e-mail. The data from the interviews resulted in identification of several
challenges, presented in a conference paper publication (Kallberg, et al., 2010).
However, this explorative study contributed to answering RQ1 since it provided
information on strategies for long-term preservation of information, and because it
explained that there were differences between the different types of systems. The
representation of project managers contributed to identifying what kind of
professionals the municipalities selected for the work, e.g. an expression of how
top management value skills. Therefore, the findings contributed to answering
RQ2 as well. The outcomes of the first step taken have resulted in the following
paper:
Kallberg, M. (2012). ‘Taking care of business – but what about the records?’
A Swedish study of recordkeeping expertise in business development
projects. In M. Procter (Ed.). Comma, vol. 2010-1, (pp. 169-188).
76
The results from the first step made the author aware of challenges for
improvement. Furthermore, it provided information and ideas on how to design a
research proposal and to define the research objectives. A research proposal serves
at least three purposes: it is the researcher’s communication with the supervisors; it
asks for approval and support; and the content of the proposal will be a plan of
action which serves as an outline of the work to be carried out (Davis, 2005, pp. 51-
52). The findings from the first step also contributed to clarify ideas, planning,
reading literature and formulating the research aim and research questions, which
were stated and presented in the research proposal.
The research findings of the first step taken in the research process raised the
question whether the situation was similar to other municipalities. By accessing the
SALAR’s web page it was possible to identify nine municipalities ranked as good
examples of e-government development (Swedish Association of Local Authorities
and Regions, 2010). The municipalities presented their e-strategies on SALAR’s
web page, which facilitated access to the material. The e-strategies were established
between 2005 and 2008. One e-strategy was undated. The second step aimed to
identify strategic actions undertaken on e-government and recordkeeping
awareness. At first, an analysis was made of each of the municipalities’ e-strategies
in September and October 2010. Secondary (published) sources, such as literature
and peer reviewed articles were also used to establish related research. The
findings provided an analysis of the relationship between e-government
development and recordkeeping. Therefore, the findings contributed to answer
RQ1.
Secondly, interviews were undertaken with the archivists. The interviews
aimed to find out the archivist´s personal thoughts, feelings, experiences and
expectations on their current and future professional role. All interviews were
conducted in January and March 2011. Secondary (published) sources, such as
relevant literature and peer reviewed articles were also used. The findings
contributed to give a current description on how archivists define themselves
within the organisational context. Therefore, the findings were a major
contribution to answering RQ3, but also gave a perspective related to RQ1.
The outcomes of the second step have resulted in the following three papers:
Kallberg, M. (2011). E-Government development and recordkeeping: A
comparative study of e-government best practice in Swedish
municipalities. In J. Douglas (Ed.), iRMA Information and Records
Management Annual 2010 (pp. 83-94). St Helens, Tasmania: RIM
Professionals Australasia.
Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists 2.0: Redefining the archivist´s profession in
the digital age. In J. McLeod (Ed.) Records Management Journal, vol. 22(2),
(pp. 98-115).
77
Kallberg, M. (2012). Archivists – A profession in transition? In. J-C Smeby
(Ed.), Professions & Professionalism, vol. 2(1), (pp. 27-41).
As a result of the analysis of the e-strategies, the issue of establishing contact
centres was identified as of strategic importance. Like centralised registry
functions, the aim of the centralisation is to interact more efficiently towards the
public as well as the organisation. As a result of this, RQ2 was formulated. Five
chief executive officers/project managers representing four of the municipalities
contact centres were interviewed in March and April 2011. In addition, as a result
of the first explorative study, one of the projects identified have been used as a
longitudinal case study: centralised registry function, where registrars have been
interviewed on two occasions: March 2010 and March 2011. Since both centralised
functions, contact centre and registry, serve to capture information, the research
findings responded to RQ2 and could also be used for comparison. The interviews
conducted with the registrars contributed to answering RQ3.
The outcomes of the study of centralised information capture functions have
resulted in two papers:
Kallberg, M. (2013). Issues with contact centres – as a new interface
between public organisations and citizens. In J. McLeod (Ed.). Records
Management Journal, vol. 23(2), (pp. 90-103).
Kallberg, M. (2013). ‘Shaping a profession?’ – A new professional context
and changing status for registrars in Sweden. In J. McLeod (Ed.). Records
Management Journal, vol. 23(3), (forthcoming).
Figure 8 presents a summary of the steps, courses, studies and outcomes, e.g.
papers and dissertations, during the research process.
78
Time 2009
2010-2011 2012 2013
Steps
Courses
Business analysis
and business.
Information
management.
Theory of
professions.
Scientific writing
and presentation.
Philosophy and
ethics of science.
Applied archival
science.
Qualitative
methods.
The archive as a
function.
Studies
An explorative
survey with
definition of
ongoing research
projects at two
municipalities.
Case studies of 9
municipalities
identified as good
examples e-
government
municipalities by
SALAR.
Case study of a
centralised
registry at one
municipality.
Getting
started.
Selecting
theoretically
useful cases.
Finalising the
goal as PhD.
Analysing data and build up theoretical
level.
79
Time 2009
2010-2011 2012 2013
Outcomes
Paper 1:
‘Taking care o
business – but
what about the
records?’ A
Swedish study of
recordkeeping
expertise in
business
development
projects
Paper 2:
E-Government
development and
recordkeeping: A
comparative study of
e-government best
practice in Swedish
municipalities
Paper 3:
Archivists 2.0:
Redefining the
archivist´s
profession in the
digital age
Paper 4:
Archivists –
A profession in
transition?
Paper 5:
Issues with contact
centres – as a new
interface between
public organisations
and citizens
Paper 6:
`Shaping a
profession?´ - A new
professional context
and changing status
for registrars in
Sweden
Licentiate thesis:
Professional
challenges in
recordkeeping in
Sweden
Doctoral thesis:
‘The Emperor´s new
clothes’ –
Recordkeeping in a
new context
Figure 8. A summary of the research process
80
4.7. Research Quality
The researcher’s earlier practical experience as a municipal archivist for ten years,
before beginning doctoral studies, may have contributed to the research design
and the analysis of the results, in the sense that the researcher is familiar with and
has personal experience of the recordkeeping issues related to electronic records in
municipalities. The doctoral studies have been financially supported by one of the
municipalities included in the study, case marked ‘J’. As a researcher I have had
practical experience of being a professional archivist at the same municipality. I
was given the assignment to work as a project manager part-time for the planning
project concerning centralised registry function during 2008–2009. In order to
avoid bias, the first explorative step was made together with a doctoral colleague.
Both contributed equally to the research design, the design of the interview
schedule and the data collection. The data analysis was made with support from
the third author. This whole research process has been undertaken with colleagues,
which has limited possible personal reflections. The researcher has no professional
connection through previous employment with the identified nine municipalities;
cases marked ‘A’ – ‘I’. There are several advantages as well. The researcher knows
the local government organisation in a way that would not be possible for an
outside researcher. Understanding the context contributes to enhancing the
awareness and knowledge related to challenges and issues in the chosen research
topic (Creswell, 2009, p. 196). Knowing the organisational context and professional
field can facilitate the acceptance in order to access and maintain fieldwork in
contemporary organisations (Walsham, 2006, p. 322). When interviewing archivists
and registrars, knowing my professional background perhaps made it easier for
them to accept being interviewed and being outspoken during the interviews. On
the other hand, when conducting interviews with the chief executive
officers/project managers representing the municipalities contact centres, I was
conducting them as an outsider from a professional aspect. Walsham points out
that it is important that interpretative researchers have a view of their own role as
an outside observer and that of involved researcher, through participant
observation or action research (Walsham, 1995, p. 77). This research does not
include observations or action research. However, there are some similarities, since
the researcher has experience of being a member of the professional field as well as
the local government organisation.
Depending on the researcher’s philosophical approach there are differences in
what kind of criteria to consider as valuable in order to identify research quality.
Case study as a method is regarded as “philosophically neutral”(Myers, 2009, p.
77). However, similar to action research, case studies can be designed as positivist,
interpretative or critical. When using case studies in a positivistic view it aims to
test and refine hypothesis, i.e. evidence making. Yin is seen as a representative of
the positivist approach where construct validity, internal validity, external validity
81
and reliability are the criteria emphasised to be used to measure research quality
(Myers, 2009, p. 77). Yin (2009) gives examples of the four tests:
construct validity – identifying correct operational measures for the
concepts being studied,
internal validity – seeking to establish a causal relationship, whereby
certain conditions are believed to lead to other conditions,
external validity – defining the domain to which a study´s findings can be
generalised, and
reliability – demonstrating that the operations of a study can be repeated
with the same results (Yin, 2009, p. 41).
Researchers conducting interpretative case studies see the social reality as socially
constructed. This kind of case study seeks to understand phenomena through
meaning people give them. The quality is described in terms of “plausibility of the
story and the overall argument”. Similar to interpretative case studies, the quality
is not characterised in positivist terms when conducting critical case studies. What
is of interest is the critical reflection on current practices. Terms like reliability and
validity are not usually used in interpretative or critical case studies, because the
words represent “an objective reality independent of social reality” (Myers, 2009,
p. 78).
Even though Yin (2009) has been used as an inspiration when designing the
case studies, it is important to address that the ideas of positivism are not
represented. As previously described, the research embraces and adopts a view of
the society as constantly changing, which impacts on the concept and function of
the archive. The research quality will be discussed in the light of this standpoint.
In addition to the four traditional tests described above, there are also criteria
for evaluating deign/corresponding design tests. Different authorities may use
different terms for different tests (Bryman, 2013, pp. 354-356; Creswell, 2007, p. 203;
Riege, 2003). After all, it is the credibility of the description that determines how
acceptable it is by others. The research undertaken in this thesis has used multiple
data collection sources. The recordings and memos as well as transcriptions of the
data collection phase have been kept. Pattern matching and explanation building
and logic models have been used in the data analysis process. The findings and
conclusions have been presented to the respondents, as well as to colleagues in
order to establish credibility (Bryman, 2013; Riege, 2003, pp. 78, 83). Cross-case
analysis has been performed in the data analysis phase in order to give a thick
contextual description. A database has been established for the data collection. The
whole research process has been documented.
The research does not support evidence making in a positivist view, it rather
supports the representation of the current development this research seeks to
capture and describe. Later researchers can therefore use the material if needed as
82
well as analyse the quality, which also establishes trustworthiness. The study
undertaken has been discussed during the whole research process with colleagues
as well as with supervisors. The results from the findings have been published as
peer reviewed conference papers and articles which confirms dependability as a
corresponding design test (Bryman, 2013, pp. 354-355; Riege, 2003, pp. 79, 84)
5. THEORETICAL AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
The Archive, conceptualised as by-product or residue, an historical
artefact, fully formed and circumscribed in the positivist tradition, is
seen as constantly evolving, and changing shape, as dynamic,
performative entity in postmodern frameworks (McKemmish &
Gilliland, 2013, p. 91).
The theoretical framework for this study is inspired by postmodern contemporary
archival and recordkeeping research in the archival multiverse. This chapter
presents the theoretical and analytical framework selection of the study. The
motivations behind the choice of theories in relation to the aim of the thesis will
also be outlined.
5.1. Capture the Complexity and Changing Boundaries and Ideas of the World
This thesis is a work based on a combination of theories, i.e. archival science
influenced by theories of professions. The theoretical knowledge of understanding
and treating archives does not exist in a vacuum and cannot be separated from the
surrounding contexts of an organisation or society. As argued by Cook: archival
thinking should be viewed as constantly developing in relation to changes in the
nature of records, the organisations that create records, recordkeeping systems and
the uses of records. Furthermore, it is a part of a wider societal perspective
influenced by cultural, technological, legal and philosophical trends. Radical
changes in society have impact on archival theory and practice (Cook, 1997, p. 20).
Archival science is defined as an intertwined relation between theory and practice
supporting each other:
The body of knowledge concerned with understanding and treating
archives. It will be taken that, at its core, archival knowledge
encompasses: theory, seen as elucidation of fundamental concepts
applied to archival material and its treatment; methods, seen as ideas on
how to treat the material; and practice, seen as the results of treatment of
particular material (Eastwood, 2010, pp. 4-5).
83
According to Eastwood (2010) archival science is based on three fundaments:
theory, methods and practice. Historically, as described in chapter 3, the function
of the archive, the practice undertaken by traditional recordkeeping professions
(archivists, records managers and registrars), have been intertwined as parts of the
body of knowledge concerned with understanding and handling archives.
Similar to archival science, research on professions can be identified as all types
of scientific studies of professions, professional practice and professional
practitioners, as they exist in multiple cultural and social contexts. Professions are
considered to be changing and relative (Abbott, 1988; Bezes, et al., 2012; Molander
& Terum, 2008, p. 13; Saks, 2012; Selander, 1989; Torstendahl & Burrage, 1990). For
example, some scholars emphasize external conditions, including gender
(Crompton & Lyonette, 2005; Dahle, 2008; Frazer, 1989) and the issue of
multiculture (Gule, 2008; Kymlicka, 2002). This indicates that it is basically a field
of research to be studied on the basis of different disciplines and with different
methodological and theoretical approaches. Professional groups are not isolated in
society, similarly to archival science, professional groups are seen as part of a
context where new professional groups may disappear and new groups may be
established as outlined in chapter 3, e.g. because of the impact of new public
management (Bezes, et al., 2012).
Since the building of new archival theories and models is characterised by an
expansion of the field research front towards a research culture that is responsive
to the complexity and changing boundaries and ideas of the world in which
recordkeeping activities are situated, it seems natural to address a combination of
archival science and theories of profession. Therefore, archival science and theories
of profession appears to correspond to each other and can fertilise and enrich the
analysis of the study presented.
Since the object of this study is to demonstrate how documentation practices
and the function of the archive is changing in relation to archival concepts in
contemporary administrative settings due to e-government strategic development,
I aim for a holistic approach and include the beginning of the life of the record to
long-term preservation. Therefore the combination of the theoretical and analytical
framework presented has been inspired by the theoretical view of postmodernism,
which will be further outlined in section 5.2. Postmodern ideas about records
corresponds to records as both fixed and mutable, i.e. “always in a process of
becoming” (McKemmish, 2005, p. 9). Furthermore, records can be “fixed in terms
of content and structure, but linked to over-broadening layers of contextual
metadata that manages their meanings, and enables their accessibility and usability
as they move through ‘spacetime’“(McKemmish & Gilliland, 2013, p. 91). For
example, in Sweden the Church started to keep records several hundred years ago
of the inhabitants in their parishes. Chronological notations were made regarding
birth, deaths, marriages etc. The records later on became a popular source for
84
researchers interested in genealogy. In addition, the records have been used for
medical research in order to document medical heredity diseases (Samuelsson,
2007, p. 264).
The ‘archival discourse’ has been established the concepts of records and
evidence, i.e. that recordkeeping principally involves evidence keeping, whereas
the “status of record and evidence takes shape in the profession’s institutional,
cultural, social, and technological activity” (Brothman, 2002, pp. 311, 313). The fact
that records are seen as evidence generated by business processes (Thomassen,
2001), reflects how records are defined in ISO standards (for example: International
Organization for Standardization, 2001; International Organization for
Standardization, 2011). As a result of the focus on establishing concepts of records
and evidence, especially as a result of the challenges posed by electronic
recordkeeping (Gilliland-Swetland, 2000, p. 10), there has been an ambition to
automatically register and capture records. Brothman (2002, p. 322-323) argues that
such ‘evidence systems’ contribute to “depersonalize the capture of records and,
thereby, to eliminate risky reliance on human discretion”, which has become a goal
of the archival practice. This view might correspond to the goals of strategic e-
government ambitions.
When responding to the first research question: ‘How aware are public
organisations of the importance of recordkeeping legislative demands in their
strategic e-government work?’ theories have been chosen that correspond to the
beginning of the life of the record as well as long-term preservation since the
legislation within the study’s national context is holistic, i.e. a view where records
management is understood as a dimension of the archival function (SFS 1990:782).
In order to capture and discuss the holistic view and possible challenges related to
the impact of e-government strategic ambitions, the records continuum model will
be used for analysis. A presentation of the records continuum model will be given
in section 5.4. However, the records continuum model does not cover theories on
the manifestation of a record, which correspond to the second research question:
‘What is the relationship between documentation practices and recordkeeping
legislative awareness within a new context of information capture?’ Therefore, the
manifestation of records will be outlined separately, in section 5.3.
In order to theoretically analyse the third research question: ‘What is the status
of recordkeeping professionals (archivists and registrars), e.g. positions and
practice within public organisations?’ a combination of archival and theories of
professions will be applied. The records continuum model will contribute to
demonstrate a possible establishment of records and archives management practice
due to a lack in recordkeeping awareness in e-government strategic development
efforts. In addition, professional theories concerning professions as mediators of
knowledge and expertise (described in section 5.5) will contribute to theories
85
referring to the status of recordkeeping professionals. Theoretical views on the
professions’ claim of jurisdiction will be used in order to complement the records
continuum model when analysing a possible border between records and archives
management (section 5.5). A theoretical definition of awareness will be discussed
in section 5.6, ‘recordkeeping consciousness’. Finally, a model for analysing
recordkeeping awareness build on the theoretical framework and the national
context is presented in section 5.7.
5.2. Postmodernism as an Influence
The concept ‘postmodernism’ has attracted interest in the social sciences since the
beginning of the 1980s (Alvesson, 2002, p. 10). However, the origins of
postmodernism can be traced back to when World War II ended and society was
characterised by uncertainty and scepticism, which in turn led to the start of a
cultural movement in art, literature, architecture and philosophy (Alvesson &
Sköldberg, 2008, pp. 389-390; Skirbekk & Gilje, 1995, p. 727). Postmodernism is a
very broad label, representing an “intellectual stream” which represents ideas
about social science, for example how we think about language, society,
individuals, reason etc. (Alvesson, 2002, p. 10).
Postmodernism as a theoretical perspective has emerged as a critique of
positivism (Agger, 1991, pp. 105-106; Alvesson, 2002, pp. 2-4). Positivism is
characterised by its relation to verification as a means of observation (Godfrey-
Smith, 2003, pp. 25-27), which is connected to empiricism (Alvesson & Sköldberg,
2008, p. 33). The main idea of postmodernism is the rejection of the possibility of
“presuppositionless representation”. Instead postmodernism argues that
“knowledge is contextualized by its historical and cultural nature” (Agger, 1991, p.
117). Postmodernism represents a suspicion against perceptions that suggest that it
is possible to present definitive versions of every conceivable reality. Therefore,
descriptions of results is considered versions of an external reality so that the main
issue will be the credibility of these versions rather than one that in absolute sense
detects if something is right or wrong. Convinced postmodernists tend to have less
to say about issues related to data collection than on how to describe and present
the result. Knowledge is never seen as neutral; it is always open to revision. In
general, postmodernists are more sympathetic to qualitative research than
quantitative research (Agger, 1991, p. 116; Alvesson, 2002; Bryman, 2013, pp. 636-
637).
Examples of major postmodernist thinkers are Foucault and Derrida. The
French philosopher Foucault sought to uncover power structures, often focusing
on the marginalised, for examples the mentally ill and prisoners (Skirbekk & Gilje,
1995, pp. 736-737). Derrida, a French speaking philosopher born in Algeria, is
known for ‘deconstruction’ which aims to uncover a hidden but crucial weakness
in a researched text, i.e. a crack in it appearance (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2008, pp.
86
401-403; Skirbekk & Gilje, 1995, pp. 735-736). The concept of ‘postmodernism’ can
be understood, in the words of Alvesson, as “an assault on the belief in rationality
and reason, as well as on the stability of meaning” (2002, p. 178). Postmodernism in
general and Derrida (1996) in particular have had major influence on and are still
having an influence on archival science (see for example: Brothman, 1999;
Brothman, 2002; Cook, 1997, 2001b, 2002; Cook & Schwartz, 2002; Fredriksson,
2003; Ketelaar, 2001; Nesmith, 2002, 2004). Derrida have often been quoted to
illustrate changes in the concepts and functions of archives (Brothman, 1999; Cook,
2001a; Cunningham, 2005; Harris, 2005, 2011b). It is interesting to note that almost
all articles are published in the late 1990s and in the beginning of the 2000s. It
seems that the influences of postmodernism had made its impact on archival
science by that time. What unites the archival scholars inspired by postmodernism,
is that they all represent a “conscious archival theory-building movement”
(McKemmish & Gilliland, 2013, p. 87). In addition, Upward’s records continuum
model is of great importance since it offers a model for how to view recordkeeping,
which can be applied in multiple contexts (Upward, 2005). For this reason the
continuum model is represented and applied in this study. Hence, even though
postmodernist thinking is considered difficult to define (Cook, 2001b),
postmodernism opens up new ways of enriching the perception and using the
archive because it provides a deeper contextualisation, which is important since
archival concepts are not universal truths.
5.3. The Manifestation of Records - As Impartial Evidence or as Influenced by Social, Administrative and Juridical Factors
Should records be seen as impartial evidence or are the records manifested by
social, administrative and juridical factors? The discussion outlined aims to
contribute to an overview and to provide a richer understanding of the influences
driven by e-government efforts, which cannot be viewed entirely through the
theoretical lens provided by the records continuum model. It is important to
understand that records are contextual parts of a process influenced by social,
administrative and juridical factors. Records are created based on the records
creators’ subjective interest.
However, Jenkinson’s view is that archives have their value as impartial
evidence of the past through the manner which they were created. Trace defines
the concept ‘impartial’ as: “impartial as to their creation, as opposed to impartial as
to their content” (Trace, 2002, p. 139, see also Jenkinson, 1922. pp. 11-12) and
argues that when using this definition records are seen as “by-products of activity
rather than conscious players in the activity itself” (Trace, 2002, p. 139).
Within the archival discourse records are seen as process-bound information, as
they are generated by work processes and follow functions (i.e. Thomassen, 2001).
87
Therefore, there is a close connection between records as evidence of decisions
taken, which is clearly stated in the standards as:
Information created, received and maintained as evidence and
information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal
obligations or in transaction of business (International Organization for
Standardization, 2001).
Information created, received and maintained as evidence and as an
asset by an organization or persona, in pursuit of legal obligations or in
the transaction of business (International Organization for
Standardization, 2011).
However, in order for records to function as evidence they have to be trustworthy.
MacNeil argues that a trustworthy record is one that includes both accurate
statements of facts as well as a genuine manifestation of those facts. Therefore a
record’s trustworthiness has two qualitative dimensions: reliability and
authenticity. The first dimension refers to the records as standing for the facts to
which it certifies, and the second dimension means the record is what is claims to
be (MacNeil, 2000). Establishing standards to ensure reliability and authenticity of
records is a manifestation in itself because it aims to facilitate “foundations for
thought and practice” (MacNeil, 2001, p. 42).
Through history, methods have been developed in order to ensure
trustworthiness of records and recognise forgeries (e.g. Duranti, 1989-1990;
MacNeil, 2000). The “birth of diplomatics” took place in the seventeenth century as
a result of the diplomatic wars within the Catholic Church. Critical analyses were
made of medieval records created in different periods across and legal systems in
order to establish their authenticity. The fundamental assumption was that the
context of a document´s creation is made manifest in its form, like for example
different procedures in the creation of the document: documentary form including
procedures, persons, handwriting and style based on area and age. Therefore, it
should be possible to separate this form from the content of the document
(MacNeil, 2000, pp. 20-22). What makes diplomatics different from earlier methods
is that instead of focusing on external evidence “outside the document”, like
witnesses and authority, trustworthiness within diplomatics focused on “internal
evidence” as described above (MacNeil, 2000, p. 22). Duranti describes this as the
“unique bond to the activity” producing it (1989-1990, p. 15). However, when
viewing records as impartial evidence no consideration is taken to the context in
which the records are created and motives behind the information capture. Nor do
these issues correspond to diplomatics as a method for analysis. Due to
information technology development and political strategic ambitions to use
electronic information to work more efficiently, public organisations are
reorganising and establishing centralised functions for information capture, where
88
the captured information is used to serve several purposes. Therefore, it seems
important to expand the concept records to also include social elements as an
influencing factor in shaping the creation of records in order to fertilise and
challenge the established view of records as impartial evidence. According to Cook
“the record is a sign, a signifier and ever-changing construction, not some empty
vessel into which acts and facts are poured. The positivist model based on the
integrity of a scientific resurrection of facts from the past and the record as an
impartial, innocent by-product of action has been utterly discredited”(Cook, 2001a,
p. 10). Following the same line of thinking, Trace (2002) addresses a need for a new
framework in order to explore “the beginning of the life of a record”, e.g. a
framework taking the creator and the social construction of the record into
account. This kind of research is necessary in order to meet the complexity of what
constitutes an electronic record in order to ensure long-term preservation. Trace
has analysed literature on records creation and recordkeeping in law enforcement
in order to identify influential factors and identified three themes: 1. “Socialised
behaviour”, e.g. the subjective nature of records creation; 2. The “dichotomy
between the use and purpose of records”, if records are seen as proactive agents
rather than reactive or descriptive; and 3. “The role of internal and external
audiences in shaping the nature of the record”. Trace concluded that these various
factors affect record creation and maintenance and a new framework provides a
structure to analyse these factors and possible relationships between them. As
stated by Trace: “Ultimately how the organisation is represented, through the
manifestation of the record, has a direct impact upon how the content of the record
is subsequently received and how the records are actually read within the creating
organization itself”. Therefore, changes to the form of the record are manifested in
different record types (Trace, 2002). For example, there may be differences between
minutes depending on the purpose of the meeting, whether the minutes are official
(political decisions) or more informal (staff meetings).
Inspired by Trace’s research, the ideas of the new framework as presented will
be included when analysing information capture and documentation practices
introduced to serve e-government objectives, in comparison to traditional already
established information capture and documentation practices. Furthermore, it will
enrich and complement records continuum.
5.4. The Life Cycle and Continuum Views on Recordkeeping
This section aims to give a description of the background and development behind
the life cycle view and the initiation of the records continuum model. In traditional
recordkeeping there has been a quite clear life cycle perspective for when records
are archived at an archive institution (Schellenberg, 1956, pp. 15-16). The life cycle
view has to be seen as a result of Schellenberg’s theoretical distinction between
records and archives in his work on archival theory and practice: Modern Archives,
89
Principles and Techniques (Schellenberg, 1956). It is important to keep in mind that
Schellenberg’s theoretical contribution was written after two world wars,
characterised by an increasing bulk of paper that had to be dealt with. Schellenberg
argued that records had primary and secondary values and made a distinction
between records and archives. Primary value reflected the importance of records
for the creator within the ongoing administration. Secondary value reflected the
importance of records for historical and cultural functions for others than the
creator. Schellenberg divided secondary value into evidential value and
informational value. Evidential value was connected to documenting functions,
programmes, policies and procedures of the creator. Informational value was
connected to the content of records such as persons, things, corporate bodies etc.
(Schellenberg, 1956).
The life cycle view, also known as a North American model, considers records
to be “objects that live out a life”: from birth, ‘creation’, to usefulness, to
destruction or preservation (Dingwall, 2010, p. 140). It is a linear process where
“uselessness and death becomes synonymous with the archive” (Lane & Hill, 2011,
pp. 13-14). The life cycle view is based on the idea that it is possible to divide the
life of a record into the eight distinct stages with records management and archive
management as two main chronological phases with separated functions and
responsibilities. Table 4 presents the different phases and stages within the life
cycle view.
Table 4. Different phases and stages in the life cycle concept (Atherton, 1985-1986, p.
44)
PHASE 1. Records Management PHASE 2. Archive Management
- creation or receipt of information in the
form of records,
- classification of the records based on
their information in a logical system,
- maintenance and use of the records,
and
- their disposition through destruction or
transfer to an archive.
- selection/acquisition of the records by an
archive,
- description of the records in inventories,
finding aids, and the like,
- preservation of the records or, perhaps,
the information in the records, and
- reference and use of the information by
researchers and scholars.
The shift from paper-based to electronic recordkeeping made it difficult to think of
the stages in the life cycle view since electronic records cannot be separated into
stages. Therefore, Atherton suggested that the life cycle concept should be replaced
with a simpler model consisting of four stages that reflects the pattern of a
continuum; creation or receipt of the record and its classification, scheduling of the
information and finally maintenance and use of the information (Atherton, 1985-
1986).
As a result of the technological development, Dollar described three
‘technological imperatives’ that affect the traditional archival landscape;
90
the changing form of documents,
the changing methods of work and
the change of technology itself (Dollar, 1992, p. 35).
The transition from paper-based to electronic documents has changed the way
documents are created. For example, paper-based documents traditionally have a
“logical structure”, e.g. a structure of content which makes them logical. Dollar
further describes that documents have a “physical relation”, which he refers to as
“how a document looks”, for example the inclusion of margins, the location of
footnotes etc. Dollar argues that electronic documents are not “physical entities
with interdependent local structure and physical relation” like paper-based
traditional documents, because electronic documents are manifested by disparate
data (Dollar, 1992, pp. 36-37). This has contributed to change the methods of work
since it makes it possible to exchange information regardless of time and space
(Dollar, 1992, pp. 40-42). The rapid change of technology will require archivists to
be updated in order to ensure that the information will be migrated and kept
(Dollar, 1992, pp. 42-44). Similar to Dollar, Bearman also addressed this issue as
problematic by using a life cycle view: “Organizations which adopt digital means
of communication need to be much more alert to issues of data management
throughout the life cycle of records in order to ensure accountability” (1994, p. 12).
Bearman pointed out the importance of describing documentation as necessary if
the documents were going to be able to serve as evidence, since documentation
attempts to capture data between the activity and the document created or
received in that activity (Bearman, 1994, p. 224).
In Australia continuum thinking has been an issue for discussion for a long
time. In 1959 Ian Maclean wrote an article for American Archivist where he
mentioned that “groups of continuum archivists” in Australia had addressed a
need to integrate “current and historical recordkeeping” (Upward, et al., 2011, p.
198). When the records continuum model was presented in the mid 1990s by Frank
Upward, it provided an alternative view of recordkeeping compared to the life
cycle view since it presented a “multi-layered and multifaceted approach” to help
archivists to understand the relationship between recordkeeping and
accountability (Upward, 2000, p. 128, 2005). The model supports a “continuum of
activities” that aims to ensure that records are captured and maintained over time
and therefore serve multiple services (Cumming, 2010, p. 42). Contrary to life cycle
thinking, records continuum recognises a more holistic recordkeeping view, not
only serving the business need of the creating organisation. When applying the
records continuum model the location of the records is not an issue but the record
itself. Therefore the model can be used as a dynamic tool and method of thinking
interpretatively (Reed, 2005). Figure 9 presents the records continuum model.
91
Figure 9. The records continuum model (Upward, 2000, p. 123)
The model presented has divided recordkeeping into four dimensions: create;
capture; organise; and pluralise. The scopes of the dimensions are described as
follows:
The first dimension – create – includes the actors who carry out the act, for
example decisions, the acts themselves, the documents that record the acts,
and the trace, the representation of the acts. Examples of that can be
minutes from a decision made on a meeting. This dimension encompasses
the format and structure of documents, databases as well as properties
such as fluidity or fixity.
The second dimension – capture – represent the records systems which
capture documents in context in ways which support their capacity to act
as evidence of social and business activities. Processes are needed to
capture documents in fixed forms or enable them to be re-produced in
their ‘original’ form through time. Instruments like metadata about their
business and social context are important.
92
The third dimension – organise – refers to the organisation of
recordkeeping processes, e.g. the manner in which an organisation defines
its recordkeeping regime and in so doing constitutes the archive as a
memory of its business functions. This includes organisation-wide
perspectives or stakeholder interests and access as well as use of the
records that have been created and captured. This includes systems that
establish organisational connectivity such as Intranet.
The fourth dimension – pluralise – is represented by the manner in which
the activities are brought into an encompassing framework in order to
provide a memory, e.g. access and use of records by far wider audiences
and beyond organisational boundaries (Cumming, 2010, p. 48;
McKemmish, 2001, p. 352; Upward & McKemmish, 2006, pp. 222-223).
As illustrated by the records continuum model as Upward sees it, the dimensions
are divided by four axes representing:
Recordkeeping – with co-ordinates of the document, the record, the
archive and the archives.
Evidence – trace of actions, the evidence records can provide and their role
in memory.
Transactions – with co-ordinates of the act, activities, functions and
purposes.
Identity – which represent the actor, the organisation and the way in
which the identity of these are institutionalised by a broader societal
recognition (Cumming, 2010, p. 48).
Since the dimensions and axes are numbered 1–4, one can easily think of the
records continuum model as linear. But it is important to not be misled by this. As
stated by Cumming the model does not represent a process or a “time-bound
reality”. Rather, it is a representation of a holistic recordkeeping view, including all
perspectives (Cumming, 2010, p. 48). Originally the term ‘rhythm’ was used to
describe the continuum, but for many years the main term used in the description
has been ‘dimension’. The dimensions create-capture-organise-pluralise represents
the “information processing continuum marks” (Upward & McKemmish, 2006, p.
222). Table 5 presents the records continuum dimensions and axes unnumbered.
93
Table 5. The records continuum (Upward & McKemmish, 2006, p. 225)
Continuum Create Capture Organise Pluralise
Evidential
qualities
Trace Evidence Corporate/individual
memory
Collective
memory
Transactional
qualities
Transaction Activity Function Purpose
Identity Actor Work unit Organisation Institution
Recordkeeping
containers
[Archival]
Document
Record(s) Archive Archives
In this thesis the records continuum model will be applied as a theoretical lens
since it provides an essential framework to study recordkeeping holistically.
Furthermore, the records continuum model provides an analytical tool to examine
whether there is an ongoing establishment in records and archive management
practice due to e-government development efforts, which in turn may have an
impact on the practice, i.e. operative professions in recordkeeping.
5.5. Professions’ Claim of Jurisdiction
Throughout the history, professions and higher education have been intertwined
with the state in the struggle between competing elites about resources and
exercise of power (Slagstad, 2001, 2006). The American sociologist Talcott Parsons
describes this as the ‘professional complex’ (Parsons, 1978, pp. 35-65). According to
Parsons the ‘professional complex’ consists of three principles: research, practice
and teaching. The first principle is about the creation of new knowledge. The
second principle is connected to the use and knowledge in the services of human
interests. The third principle is about transmission of knowledge, for example by
education (Parsons, 1978, p. 36). According to Parsons (1978), the profession is a
function and the universities are providers of knowledge transmission. Though it
seems that the roles of professions and how they operate are challenging the
‘professional complex’ as described by Parsons (1978).
Knowledge and expertise related to education may be important for
professionalisation, but professionalisation is part of a socio-political process
which includes market interests where the professional boundaries are affected
(Abbott, 1988; Saks, 2012). As stated by Macdonald: “Professions are knowledge-
based occupations and therefore the nature of their knowledge, the socio-cultural
evaluation of their knowledge and the occupation’s strategies in handling their
knowledge base are of central importance” (1995, p. 160). Professional knowledge
is, according to Abbott, linked to the professional work, and abstraction, which is
the “quality that sets interprofessional competition apart from competition among
occupations in general” (1988, p. 9). Professional knowledge is built and
94
reproduced through a shared educational background and professional training,
i.e. ‘professional identity’ referring to a sense of shared understandings, and skills,
experiences, and a common way of perceiving and solving problems (Evetts, 1999,
pp. 14-25). Therefore, when the society changes, for example due to e-government,
it may change requirements for professional skills and in turn impact on higher
education, which may affect the professional identity. However, when Duranti
describes the archive as place of preservation in which the records are kept which
are seen as evidence, the location in itself is associated with trustworthiness:
“somewhere between the outside and the inside archival building, the documents
must unfold into evidence and memory”. Duranti defines this as the ‘archival
threshold’: a space where the “authenticating function takes place” (Duranti, 1996,
pp. 243-244). Duranti addresses the importance of an ‘archival threshold’ as
including electronic records for the same reasons as for paper-based records: i.e.
transparency of records creation, stability and security, all referring to authenticity
of what Duranti defines as “inactive record” (1996, p. 251). It is possible to refer to
professional archivists as gatekeepers serving that function. A different, but still
gate keeping function, is that of professional registrars when deciding what
records should be registered, the record’s status of importance and transferring
records for further decision making. In several studies within social science the
term ‘gatekeeper’ has been used as a term referring to the professional function as
being in the frontline as experts in selection (Bien, 1997; Coffe Jr, 2006; Cox, 2011;
Shumsky & Pinker, 2003).
Nevertheless, archivists as knowledge providers are focusing on the ability to
manage evidence rather than records (Brothman, 2002, 2010). This development
may be seen as a professional strategy, i.e. an adaption to the complexity of
handling electronic records. However, when professional archivists focus on the
concept of evidence as an objective truth it can be seen as an expression of
‘scientific positivism’ (Brothman, 2002, p. 325), but also as an expression of
professional challenges due to values created in the knowledge society where
impact of management have resulted in a change in the definition of value and
value creating processes. The development has had an impact on the public sector
since the 1990s. Questions related to value have become important. Criticism
against professionalism is a result of this development, which visualises in
managerialism where leaders have other values than professionals, for example by
placing quality in front of quantity as a measure method of work including goals
and results. Examples of such measurement methods are balance score cards and
LEAN, implementation of standards together with increasing documentation
requirements and individual wage setting (Bezes, et al., 2012; Stenlås & Hasselberg,
2010). Therefore it is not surprising, as described in chapter 3, that standards on
records management are directed to managers only and the focus is on records as
95
evidence. Still qualitative judgments, based on knowledge, have to be made in
order to meet requirements on knowledge needed for decision making. Qualitative
judgments, where for example viewing records as manifested within a broader
context as a result of a process influenced by social, administrative and juridical
factors, provides a deeper understanding where professions as mediators of
knowledge and expertise are important.
Since this research reflects and analyses an ongoing process within a specific
context this may have both immediate but also future implications for professional
recordkeeping practice and strategic positioning. Therefore, in addition to the
records continuum model the study will apply a theoretical perspective inspired
by Abbott (1988). Abbott (1988) uses the concept ‘jurisdiction’ as the link between
an occupation and its work, when analysing professions as existing within a
system: ‘the system of professions’. The link embodies both cultural and social
control. The cultural control arises in work with the assignment and is authorised
by formal knowledge that is rooted in fundamental values, i.e. similar to Duranti
(2001) when describing archival science as being regarded as a system. The social
control arises in active claims presented in the public, legal and workplace arenas
(Abbott, 1988, p. 86). Claims of full jurisdiction are maintained by a mixture of
means. A successful jurisdiction is supported by legal rules, as for example leaving
out other professions from work with a claimed task, as well as by organisational
rules within an organisation (Abbott, 1988, pp. 70-71).
Every profession aims for a heartland of work over which it has
complete, legally established control. This control should be legitimated
within the culture by the authority of the professions knowledge. It
should be established in the law. It should determine the structure of
referral that brings work to the profession. It should shape, indeed, the
very public idea of the tasks that the profession does. Every profession
aims not only to possess such a heartland, but to defend and expand it
(Abbot, 1988, p. 71).
Jurisdiction is exclusive, since professions form an interdependent system (Abbott,
1988, p. 86). Professions develop depending on their internal relationships with
each other, which has to do with the way the professional group controls its
knowledge and skills by using its jurisdiction (Abbott, 1988, p. 20).
Professions develop when jurisdictions become vacant, which may
happen because they are newly created or because an earlier tenant has
left them altogether or lost its firm grip on them. If an already existing
profession takes over a vacant jurisdiction, it may in turn vacate another
of its jurisdictions or retain merely supervisory control of it (Abbot, 1988,
p. 3).
96
External forces can cause immediate disruption to the system by introducing new
task areas for jurisdiction and by destroying old jurisdictions. An example of such
a disturbance is the impact of new technology or organisational changes (Abbott,
1988, pp. 91-96). There are also internal sources of system change caused within the
professions themselves, such as development of new knowledge or skills (Abbott,
1988, pp. 96-97).
I intend to apply Abbott’s ideas to interpret the change in recordkeeping and
demonstrate whether this affects archivists as a professional group considering
that electronic records need to be captured and managed in the process and
context which they belong to in order to make them accessible both in the present
and in the long-term. The other occupational group used for comparison is
registrars. Registrars are contrary to archivists active in the centre of the
administration, in the capture phase of the records. Functions regarding
information capture seem to have become more strategically important in order for
public organisations to increase quality of services and for efficiency and cost
saving reasons, which have strengthened the registrars’ positions on behalf of the
archivists. Therefore, archivists and registrars as professional groups are good
examples of what to study with a theoretical perspective using theory of
professions according to Abbott (1988). Furthermore, Abbott argues that the claim
of jurisdiction has to be made in different arenas, of which the legal system is one
and public opinion another. The legal system can confer formal control of work, in
this case legislation that regulates and has an impact on recordkeeping. The related
arena has to do with public opinion, where professions produce images that put
pressure on the legal system. An equally important, but less studied arena is the
workplace (controls certain kinds of work, e.g. who can control and supervise the
work and who is qualified to do which part in it) (Abbott, 1988, pp. 59-60). “Claims
made in the workplace blur and distort the official lines of legally and publicly
established jurisdictions; an important problem for any professions is the
reconciliation of its public and its workplace position” (Abbott, 1988, p. 60). The
profession that has the right to diagnose and treat problems within a professional
field has full jurisdiction. Reduction of jurisdiction occurs when a profession fails
to reach full jurisdiction and is obliged to comply with another profession’s rules
and therefore occupy a subordinate position which is often the case with semi-
professions (Abbott, 1988). Therefore, unawareness may exclude recordkeeping
professions like archivists and registrars from participating as experts in for
example e-government implementation projects, which in addition mirrors their
status in the organisation.
5.6. Recordkeeping Consciousness
The concept ‘consciousness’ has been used by scholars to represent archival science
(e.g. Brothman, 2010; Schellenberg, 1956; Upward, et al., 2011) and therefore refers
97
to a deeper theoretical meaning in contrast to ‘records awareness’ as described in
section 3.5.1. This section aims to define and give examples of how
‘consciousnesses’ has been used within archival science to refer to the ‘jurisdiction’
of recordkeeping professions to be seen in a broader context.
Within archival science the concept ‘consciousness’ has been used by
Schellenberg to refer to the care of public records as a public obligation where the
archivist is intermediating knowledge in order to develop a public consciousness
of records’ values (Schellenberg, 1956, p. 119). Consequently, Schellenberg
identifies the archivist as an essential knowledge provider in the process of
creating understanding of values of records as well as to highlight the overall
responsibility of records management. A similar description is found in the ISO
30300:2011 standard (see the definition in section 3.5.1). The difference between
Schellenbergs (1956) and the ISO-30300:2011 definitions is that archivists are not
included or mentioned as knowledge providers in the latter one.
The term ‘archival consciousness’ have been analysed by Brothman (2010) in
terms of gift giving, i.e. from “one generation to another”. Brothman argues that
“archival consciousness is embodied in individual, institutional, and communal
acts and discourses, each variously striving to offer perfect absence and perfect
presents/presence” (Brothman, 2010, p. 172) Criticism is raised against the main
focus on records being authentic and trustworthy in relation to business and
legislative requirements that have made archivists assume that their role is to work
with the business processes in order to ensure records as evidence where records
are ‘being made to order’. Efficiency and effectiveness together with information
technology development as a part of ‘new managerialism and audit culture’ have
had a major impact on archives. It is the current value of records that is important,
from a records creator perspective, and therefore it may be difficult to justify
support of records preservation, which in turn raises the question: “How
important are records, that is, archives for society”? (Brothman, 2010, p. 156).
In addition ‘consciousness’ as a concept has been used in relation to continuum
thinking in which the concept ‘continuum consciousness’ has been addressed as a
need for recordkeeping professions to significantly focus on “the capture of
records, the formations and reformation of archives, and the return of recorded
information into situated action in ways to support identify, social justice,
transparency and accountability”, i.e. a “rhizoid (weed-like) thinking” aiming to
meet recordkeeping challenges based on the digital environment (Upward, et al.,
2011, pp. 202, 235). The digital environment, e.g. the Internet, social media and
Web 2.0, offers new possibilities to use and capture information. However, it also
creates challenges regarding “norms of bounded spheres of operation”, therefore,
it is important to develop a continuum consciousness in order to operate
effectively to ensure valid and usable archives (Upward, et al., 2011, pp. 235-237).
98
E-government development offers the same problematic information
environment as described by Upward et al. (2011) and therefore their
interpretation of the concept may also be useful for this study, supporting the
already presented adaption of the records continuum model to be used as a tool for
analysis.
5.7. Analytical Model for Recordkeeping Awareness
Inspired by the theoretical framework presented, a model for recordkeeping
awareness has been designed to be used when analysing research findings in
addition to the records continuum. The concept ‘awareness’ may be used
differently depending on the context. It can be traced as a concept used to support
managerialism, as stated in the ISO-standard described (ISO: 30300:2011), and
more theoretically as ‘consciousness’ as a contrast to the description by Brothman
(2010). In this study the concept uses the legal framework, but because of the legal
framework, as presented in the Swedish context, it rather provides a contrast as
described by Brothman (2010) and therefore it can be used to detect influences
from managerialism due to e-government development. Furthermore, it also
provides a model to be used for the recordkeeping profession’s claim of
jurisdiction in different arenas (Abbott, 1988). When using the model together with
the records continuum, the combination strives for recordkeeping consciousness.
The model is visualised as a triangle representing the legal, political and
workplace arenas. The triangle is placed in the centre of a circle. The choice behind
representing the arenas as a triangle mirrors the representation of municipalities as
organisations in relation to the Swedish governmental and legislative framework
including the recordkeeping organisation which is represented by a red dotted
arrow reaching through all arenas and pointing in two directions: bottom-up and
top-down. The circle surrounding the triangle represents the society; changes in
society could have an impact on the arenas described in the triangle, i.e. the
research setting. Likewise, how the organisation organises recordkeeping could
have an effect on the society, e.g. issues about the status and function of archives
which in turn could influence democracy, i.e. transparency and trust. The relation
is a not an expressed but mutual influence. Figure 10 illustrates the model
designed.
99
Figure 10. A model for analysing recordkeeping awareness
The societal changes defined for the study are related to changes which could
impact on recordkeeping, i.e. politically formulated and decided e-government
strategic ambitions, goals and implementation projects at European and Swedish
national level.
The legal arena is important because it legitimises the archives’ status and
function. It represents the national view of archives from a societal and democratic
perspective. According to the Swedish legislation archives consist of official
documents. Official documents are to be registered in order to facilitate citizens’
rights to free access to information (SFS 2009:400). Archives are to be preserved,
kept and managed so that they meet the fundamental right to access official
documents, the need for justice, administration and research. The archives are also
considered to be a part of the cultural heritage (SFS 1990:782). In addition the
legislation gives archivists and registrars sanctions for their practice. So there is a
clear link between the legislative arena and the workplace arena, represented by
professional practice.
The political arena is located in between the legislative and workplace arena.
The political arena is represented by the committee level and is vital for making the
link between legislation and practice work. The political arena has an important
LEGAL ARENA Legislation on recordkeeping
POLITICAL ARENA -
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, COMMITTEE LEVEL Recordkeeping policies and regulations, and
e-government strategies
WORKPLACE ARENA ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT LEVEL Recordkeeping organisation and practice
S
OC
IET
Y
SOCIETY
SOCIETY
100
function, it is where decisions are made that are of concern for the municipality,
e.g. policies, regulations and strategy document on recordkeeping, retention and
disposal schemes as well as financing of e-government projects. Policies regarding
recordkeeping are important as they should state the organisation´s strategy on the
capture of records to serve internal needs as well as legal requirements or the
wider expectations of society (Shepherd & Yeo, 2003). Professional practice is
therefore dependent on decisions made in the political arena. If there is a lack of
recordkeeping awareness on the political level there will be consequences for
overall recordkeeping management including e-government development, for
example when implementing e-services, as well as consequences for archivists and
registrars as professional groups. If archivists are not given a mandate to work
strategically, they are not visible as experts and they risk a reduction in their
professional status. A lack of recordkeeping awareness in the political arena could
also have democratic consequences in the sense that it can lead to information loss
and therefore inability to fulfil the citizens’ right to access official documents.
It is in the workplace arena decisions made by politicians in the political arena
are implemented. The workplace arena is represented by administrative
departments and managed by a head of department, who is responsible for
managing the department with units as efficiently as possible according to the
obligations that are required to be fulfilled as stipulated in the legislation in
relation to the elected political majority. Therefore, the heads of the administrative
departments should be regarded as representatives of management.
The recordkeeping organisation is a part of the political arena as well as the
workplace arena. One of the committees, in the model represented by the political
arena, functions as an archival authority towards the other committees and their
administrative departments seeing to that the stipulated legislated requirements
concerning recordkeeping are fulfilled. In addition, the archival authority
functions as a repository for the archives after the archives have been transferred
for long-term preservation. The obligations of the archival authority are organised
by an administrative department and usually implemented by professional
archivists. Archivists have a way to circumvent the political level as they often
have the task to audit recordkeeping. Auditing can therefore serve as a powerful
tool so that archivists can position themselves as experts. But in order to do so, the
archivists need adequate skills and knowledge.
To summarise, the three arenas represent the context in which the study is
conducted, namely the organisation of local governments (municipalities) in
Sweden. The three arenas are connected to each other in two ways: top-down and
bottom-up. The analysis of the included papers will show to what extent the model
is consistent with actual conditions, i.e. the holistic view on archives as stipulated
in the archives legislation (SFS 1990:782).
101
6. SUMMARY OF INCLUDED PAPERS
Each of the papers is presented and summarised briefly in the order they were
written. At the end of each paper, a description of the contribution of the paper in
question is presented.
6.1. Paper 1 – ‘Taking Care of Business – but What about the Records?’ A Swedish Study of Recordkeeping Expertise in Business Development Projects (Kallberg, 2011)
Local governments in Sweden are good examples of complex structures: consisting
of several committees and administrative departments that implement political
decisions and provide services to the public. The local governments are working
with business improvement in order to be more efficient and to cut costs. An
explorative study was undertaken which gave an overview of what kind of
business process improvement projects the municipalities were working with.
This paper set out to research the municipalities’ level of awareness of the
importance of recordkeeping, long-term preservation of information and
recordkeeping expertise in their strategic e-government work. An interview
schedule was used as a research tool. The interview schedule had a holistic
approach and consisted of questions regarding ownership and financing, duration,
logic behind the project, project gains, personnel involvement, customer
orientation (citizens), information systems and evaluations. The questions were
based on theories on business process management which advocates a holistic
approach to business development.
The research findings identified that there was a difference between the types of
systems within the municipalities. Some systems are developed to fit the
information needs of special businesses or responsibilities. Examples of such
systems are budget systems, which are often connected to systems dealing with
procurement or invoices, on the one hand, and personnel management systems,
staff service systems and care planning systems on the other hand. These kinds of
systems are more connected to internal processes. Although citizens sometimes
gain positive outcomes from the process improvements, they were not primarily
directed to citizens.
There were also more citizen oriented systems that focused on creating
communities and networks, and which intended to improve the quality of life for
elderly citizens and their relatives. These projects also had cost-beneficial effects for
the local government.
Furthermore, the result showed that both of the municipalities were
implementing electronic document and records systems, which aimed to improve
recordkeeping processes for general cases and increase transparency to meet the
102
citizens’ right to free access to all official documents, making it possible to follow
the process and progress of cases on the Internet. 10 of the 17 projects dealt with
systems. However, out of the 10 projects there were 8 projects that had no
recordkeeping professional expertise. The two exceptions were the projects
implementing electronic document and records management systems.
Another critical issue was highlighted in the paper, namely that the issue of
long-term preservation has often been left unsolved for several generations of
business systems. Within these projects there were neither strategies for long-term
preservation of information nor professional expertise in records and archive
management involved or consulted, nor were there any electronic long-term
preservation strategies undertaken within the two electronic document and
records systems projects. Long-term preservation still used a traditional, paper-
based approach.
The major research findings can be summarised as:
Lack of recordkeeping expertise including long-term preservation of
information for business systems increases the risk of information loss.
Archivists should have strategic roles.
There is a need for a development of skills for archivists and registrars in
order to meet new requirements, which puts pressure on higher education
to include for example change of management in organisations, audit and
leadership skills.
Contribution: The paper aims to identify recordkeeping challenges and critical
issues related to these. There seems to be a difference in how recordkeeping skills
are consulted when implementing systems. Information created in business
systems is not considered as records by the top management and project managers
and therefore there are no strategies for long-term preservation, which increases
the risk of information loss. The paper contributed to answer RQ1 as well as RQ3.
The result could be of interest for recordkeeping practitioners working with the
shift to e-government in local contexts and for educators, as there appears to be a
shift in the skills and knowledge required by those working in local government.
6.2. Paper 2 – E-Government Development and Recordkeeping: A Comparative Study of E-Government Best Practice in Swedish Municipalities (Kallberg, 2011)
E-government initiatives have the potential to develop and improve services to the
citizen, and as a result enable open interaction with government agencies, by for
example offering e-services. Records are an important element of e-government as
they support and demonstrate accountability and transparency and are a source of
information for the citizens. In Sweden, citizens are entitled to free access to official
103
records. Many different systems are used and integrated in e-services. It is
important for government agencies to address privacy and security issues when
developing e-services and systems. Citizens need to be guaranteed that the
information is retained and used in a secure environment. For that reason, a pro-
active approach at strategic planning level is important for recordkeeping to
ensure that these issues are addressed. The aim of the paper is to highlight the
relationship between e-government and recordkeeping by analysing nine
municipalities’ e-strategies identified as good examples by SALAR.
A content analysis of the nine identified municipalities’ e-strategies was
undertaken, in regards to their motives, goals and the methods.
The major research findings pointed out that:
The municipalities found the development of information technology (IT)
as an important factor to work more efficiently with internal processes as
well as towards citizens, other public organisations and enterprises. The
pressure from the national government to work with e-government
development was also considered as a strong driving force.
Five to nine municipalities are working with development of 24/7 e-
services, improvement of the web to exchange information, a development
of holistic business processes, strengthening the IT strategic competence,
establishment of contact centres in order to help and support citizens and
enterprises to use e-services, ensure IT security, integration of systems,
increased transparency to allow citizens to take part in the political
decision process, and implementation of electronic document and records
management systems.
Less than half of the municipalities considered the integration of paper-
based and electronic records, metadata or a digital archive as important
components to address within the e-strategies.
Only one municipality mentions the work with digital archive
management and assignments of responsibility for and ownership of
information and defining acceptable formats for information as important.
There were no clear statements regarding the importance of establishing
retention and disposal schemes.
It was clear that IT strategists and IT units, not archivists, were considered
as experts and coordinators of e-government development.
Contribution: This paper contributed to answer RQ1 since it focuses on the extent
of the municipalities’ awareness of the importance of recordkeeping in their
strategic e-government work. The result contributed to answer RQ2 as it was
obvious that IT professionals were identified as experts and coordinators of the
strategic e-government development. Archivists were not mentioned as important
104
or offering additional resources. The paper made it clear that several municipalities
lacked in understanding of the value of records and recordkeeping skills within
their e-strategies, even though the municipalities were identified as good examples
of e-government development.
6.3. Paper 3 – Archivists 2.0: Redefining the Archivist´s Profession in the Digital Age (Kallberg, 2012)
Public organisations are investing in e-government development and e-services to
improve the interaction with and service to the citizens. Archivists need to act
more pro-active to capture and manage records in order to be accessible both in the
present and in the long-term. Archivists need to understand the conceptual context
and business processes in which records are created. This article is based on a
study focusing on an ongoing process within a specific context, which may have
direct, but also future implications for archivists’ professional identity. Professional
identity is understood as a sense of shared understandings and skills, experiences,
a common way of perceiving problems and possible solutions. This paper
addresses if and how electronic recordkeeping has affected archivist professionals.
The data presented and analysed is based on interviews with nine archivists
working at the same municipalities as were presented in paper 2. The paper also
consists of a literature review focusing on areas related to archivists’ professional
practice and future professional role.
An interview schedule was designed and used as a research tool. It consisted of
questions regarding the interviewees’ background, professional practice, electronic
recordkeeping and skills development/the future role of the archivist profession.
The interviewees also had the possibility to leave additional comments.
The research findings can be summarised as follows:
Valuation of information over time and within its context was expressed as
a unique for archivist professionals.
The legislative framework was considered as important.
The need for a pro-active and strategic work is vital, including high level
support within organisations, and in the work with the processes where
records are created.
Archivist as a professional title seemed to be closely linked to the
professional performance and skills. Therefore none of the informants
wanted to change professional title.
There is an awareness of the challenges of long-term preservation of
electronic records, but often there is no strategic and pro-active work.
There are multiple responsibilities, but often not enough resources.
There is a lack in skills and resources to work with electronic records
individually, but also in collaboration with other professionals which
affects prioritisation of work.
105
There is a need for specialised skills, which seems to be related to the
broad range of responsibilities and to electronic recordkeeping.
Auditing is often not carried out, which can lead to information loss and
democratic consequences for the citizens’ right to official documents.
The double role as advisor and auditor was perceived as conflicting when
participating in development projects.
Higher education has an important role in supporting the practice, with
research that strengthens the archivist profession in defining problems and
developing new working methods.
Contribution: The paper contributed to providing a current description on how
archivists define themselves as professionals within the strategic e-government
work. The article also identified areas for improvement, such as lack of resources
and skills, competence needs and therefore the relation practice and higher
education. The article is a major contribution to the overall research on the
archivists’ profession related to answering RQ3. However, the lack of resources
given to the archivists in order to promote pro-active and strategic work can also
be seen as an expression of the organisation’s unawareness of the importance of
recordkeeping legislative demands. The fact that auditing is often not being carried
out is a serious issue, which ought to be questioned and discussed by the archival
authorities within the municipalities, since they are obliged to see to that auditing
is carried out according to the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782). Therefore, the article
contributes to answer RQ1 as well.
6.4. Paper 5 – Archivists – A Profession in Transition? (Kallberg, 2012)
E-government development has put pressure on public organisations to work with
electronic information. This affects the interaction between local governments and
citizens and therefore the development of public information. Access to
governmental records is vital in democratic societies. Legislation on recordkeeping,
including freedom of information, makes no distinction between electronic and
paper-based records. Therefore, born-digital records have to be captured and
managed in order to be accessible both in the present and in the long-term. This
paper aims to establish the awareness of recordkeeping legislative demands as part
of e-government development within public organisations and its effect on the
archivists’ status, e.g. positions and practice. The paper uses the data collection
presented in paper 3 and 4, but from a theoretical perspective inspired by theory
on professions, i.e. the concept ‘jurisdiction’ as a link between an occupation and
its work. An analytical hierarchical model was established for analysing
recordkeeping awareness in three arenas: legal, political and workplace. The
106
theoretical idea is that claim of jurisdiction has to be made in different arenas in
order to be successful. However, disturbances like for example the impact of new
technology or organisational changes may change the way a professional group
controls their knowledge and skills by using their jurisdiction.
The main research findings from the analysis identified a gap between the legal
and workplace arenas in both directions caused by a lack of recordkeeping
awareness primarily within the political arena. The political arena is important
because it is an arena of decision making, which the workplace arena has to
implement. The research findings confirm that it is questionable whether the top
management has sufficient knowledge of definitions regarding official documents
and archives. Politicians need to be aware in order to make the right decisions.
Since archivists seem to lose professional status to the IT professions, they also lose
power to communicate challenges identified. As a result, the lack of recordkeeping
awareness can led to increased costs as well as democratic limitations.
Contribution: The paper contributed to providing a model for analysing
recordkeeping awareness. In addition, the analysis contributed to a more complex
picture in need of further research, i.e. changes due to market adjustment and
technology development affecting the concept of ‘archive’ and its place.
The article responds to the theoretical framework and covers all research
questions.
6.5. Paper 5 – Issues with Contact Centres – As a New Interface between Public Organisations and Citizens (Kallberg, 2013)
In order to capture information and to interact more efficiently towards the
citizens, including private businesses, public organisations are establishing new
channels organised as contact centres. A contact centre is an organisational,
centralised unit which serves as interface between the public organisations,
responsible for dealing with incoming contacts through information technology
channels such as the Internet, e-mail, chat, telephone or fax cross-committee-
organisational borders and integrating systems. All contacts are registered, which
is often used as statistics for strategic business improvements. The establishment of
contact centres can be seen as part of e-government development, which will likely
change organisational cultures, work practices as well as the citizens’ attitudes
about how to use digital information and therefore affect public administration
and recordkeeping. The development raises practical and theoretical
recordkeeping issues regarding the context of the creation of records in relation to
their functions and the recordkeeping legislation. This article discusses the relation
between documentation practices and recordkeeping legislation awareness in a
new context of information capture.
107
As a data collection tool interviews were conducted during 2011, with chief
executive officers and/or project managers representing established or planned
contact centres in order to explore the establishment of contact centres. An
interview schedule with semi-structured questions was used as a research tool. The
questions formulated were thematically structured: ‘function and organisation’; ‘e-
services’; ‘registration’; ‘long-term preservation’; and ‘skills and strategies for
strategic development’. The interviewees were offered the possibility to add
additional comments at the end of the interview. The study was conducted within
a larger body of research designed as a multiple case study. The selected
interviewees were active at one of the nine Swedish municipalities identified as
good examples by SALAR (see further paper 2-5 within this chapter).
The findings demonstrate that there are other reasons for establishment of
contact centres than the traditional need of using information as evidence for
decision making: namely internal business process development and cost savings.
Registration and handling of a matter is carried out within a new context where
information is captured at an earlier stage than ever before, i.e. the information is
captured much closer to the creation. This is interesting from a continuum
perspective. However, in practice the documentation is not considered as a record
even though the information captured may be important as a record. The status of
the matter is furthermore determined by the level of skills of the employees. The
level of skills or personal values or the kind of system being used should not define
the status. Rather, it is the recordkeeping legislation that should define the status,
and unawareness means a risk of breaking the connection between records’
reliability and authenticity. Consequently, the public organisations cannot be
accountable for their actions. Furthermore, the border of responsibilities between
the contact centre and the committees and administration departments was
unclear. Therefore, questions regarding responsibility for the information raise
concerns regarding accountability as well as the view of thinking of records as
impartial evidence of decision making.
Contribution: The research findings confirm that information is captured pro-
actively and serves different purposes, which challenges the strong bond between
processes, legislation, organisation and accountability. The paper therefore
identified challenges which confirm a need of including research from the
beginning of the life of the record as part of archival thinking and research. The
paper contributed to answer all research questions, but in particular RQ2.
108
6.6. Paper 6 – ‘Shaping a Profession?’ – A New Professional Context and Changing Status for Registrars in Sweden (Kallberg, 2013)
Influenced by the private sector public organisations are establishing centralised
functions connected to information capture. Registry functions in Sweden have a
long tradition as part of a hierarchical organisational structure, serving the public’s
right to access information as well as the internal organisation. According to
stipulated legislation, official documents must be registered immediately for
release or classification. The registration is important in order to facilitate the
public’s right to free access to official documents. The journal used for the
registration is, in addition, considered an official document. The occupational
group that handle the registration are usually entitled registrars. In addition to
registration, registrars work with day-to-day operational management tasks.
Related research addresses the issue of registrars often lacking higher education
and their work being taken for granted. Their status and role is dependent on the
support they gain from their chief executive officers, the organisational location of
the registry function and the type of organisation. However, due to the strategic e-
government initiatives, registry functions are being centralised in order improve
services for the public sector, i.e. gaining a new strategic importance in the
organisation. The reorganisation may have implication for recordkeeping practice
including the registrars’ professional identity, practice and status. The article
addresses research questions concerning the relationship between documentation
practices and recordkeeping legislation awareness within the new context of
information capture and the status of registrars, their positions and practice.
A longitudinal evaluation case study was conducted of a project, which aimed
to reorganise and centralise a registry function in a Swedish local government
(municipality). The function was implemented to serve cross-organisational
committees. In addition, an electronic document and records system were
implemented and introduced to the administration officers and chief executive
officers. The introduction was planned to be conducted by the registrars as an
internal training programme.
The data was collected by public records describing the initiation and the result
of the project. Individual interviews were conducted with the registrars at two
occasions, 2010 and 2011, in order to identify changes over time. As a research tool
an interview schedule was established where the themes were constructed to
support the evaluation of the implementation as well as changes regarding the
professional identity, practice and status. The themes were entitled: ‘the planning
project’; ‘the reorganisation’; ‘skills’; ‘business development’; and ‘professional
identity’. The interviewees were offered the possibility to leave further comments
at the end of the interview. The analysis of the interviews was made using content
109
analysis. The theoretical framework for the study applied to theories on
professions and archival research, with a special focus on the records continuum.
The main findings confirm that registry functions are seen as politically
important in order to increase quality and efficiency regarding the creation and
capture of information. The reorganisation has contributed to improvements since
more information is captured. However, there are challenges remaining for the
records continuum dimension ‘organise’, challenges regarding the systems and
processes for the creation and capture of records, which have to be solved. Change
is a process complicated by several factors; three of the factors that have been
identified are lack in awareness of recordkeeping legislation and recordkeeping
knowledge related to the organisation as well as the practice. The registrars
perceived that being part of a professional community, as a result of centralisation,
has strengthened their status and identity. However, they also felt that this
perception was not confirmed in the wider organisation.
Contribution: The paper contributed to providing an understanding of the
change traditional recordkeeping functions have undergone due to strategic
ambitions posed by the e-government development. The findings of the paper
contributed to be used in comparing the establishment of contact centres and the
status of archivists. According to the Swedish national context, as described in
chapter 2, there is no tradition of records managers in Sweden. This paper reflects
on the registrars as possible upcoming professional records managers with
consideration to the mandate they are given by the reorganisation and extended
responsibilities. The overall findings will contribute to answer all research
questions addressed, in particular RQ2 and RQ3. The paper is a major contribution
to the overall discussion on the changing function of the archive.
7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study is entitled “The emperor’s new clothes” as a metaphor for the political
stakeholder’s interest in using information to serve the interest of the nation. The
study is based on Sweden, since the recordkeeping legislation corresponds to a
holistic approach where records management and archives management are
intertwined. Official documents constitute the archive according to the
recordkeeping legislation (SFS 1990:782). The aim of this study was to capture and
analyse an ongoing change in society, i.e. e-government development and
recordkeeping nexus. A combination of theories corresponding to archival science
and professions were chosen in order to capture the complexity and changing
boundaries and ideas of this development. The motivations for using a
combination of theories have been inspired by Brothman’s statement that the
archival discourse is to a large extent evidence keeping: “the status of record and
evidence takes shape in the profession’s institutional, cultural, social and
110
technological activity” (2002, p. 313). The public status and function of archives
have changed during the course of history. Information technology makes it
possible to use information more strategically to increase efficiency and quality of
public organisations’ internal processes and in the interaction with the public.
Therefore, information has become a valuable resource in the transformation of
society, which is clearly expressed in national and European e-government
strategic documents as outlined in section 2.4. User-centric solutions are suggested
to promote this development. For example, centralised functions concerned with
information capture, such as contact centres, are being established alongside
traditional registry functions. The framework for the recordkeeping practice is
determined by the legislation. In the process of reaching the aim three research
questions have been formulated;
How aware are public organisations of the importance of recordkeeping
legislative demands in their strategic e-government work?
What is the relationship between documentation practices and
recordkeeping legislation awareness within a new context of information
capture?
What is the status of recordkeeping professionals (archivists and
registrars), e.g. positions and practice within public organisations?
Several case studies have been undertaken using Sweden as an example. Sweden is
interesting since the recordkeeping legislation is based on a long tradition where
the public right to free access to information is fundamental, which has been
supported by the establishment of registry functions. Registrars in addition to
archivists, is the occupational group that are working with recordkeeping as
professionals. Registrars is the occupational group responsible for handling the
organisations journal including registration and classification of official
documents. Since records management is, according to the Archives Act (SFS
1990:782), understood as a dimension of the archival function, records manager has
not been an established profession in Sweden. Archivists work with a range of
tasks, from custodians to repositories to strategic experts including auditing
recordkeeping on behalf of the archival authority.
This chapter presents and discusses the overall findings in relation to related
research, the theoretical and analytical framework as well as the research process.
The research findings will be described in relation to each research question and an
overall analysis will be summarised in relation to the literature review as
concluding remarks. Finally, the chapter concludes by outlining ideas for further
research. Initially, the results of the conducted research will be presented according
to the research questions formulated, in the same order as they were addressed.
111
7.1. Public Organisations Awareness of the Importance of Recordkeeping Legislation Demands in Strategic E-government Work
Based on the findings presented in all the included papers the recordkeeping
awareness seems to be low at the political and workplace arenas, which will be
described in more detail in relation to the studies undertaken. The first explorative
study demonstrated that business improvement projects were managed without a
holistic view on recordkeeping (paper 1). There seems to be a difference between
the types of systems and how they were handled. There were systems developed
to correspond to the information needs of certain responsibilities or businesses,
such as budget systems, personnel management systems and staff service systems
which were more connected to internal processes. There were citizen oriented
systems intended to improve quality for elderly and their relatives by creating
communities and networks. Finally, there were electronic documents and records
systems management systems for general matters. Furthermore, only projects
dealing with the implementation of electronic document and records systems
involved or consulted archivists. According to the results it seems that archivists
essentially are linked to recordkeeping systems where documents are registered
and managed in a traditional way, as they were in the paper-based processes
where the first activity is registration and classification, which is often carried out
by a registrar. Hence, it seems that information created in business systems are not
considered official documents by the top management. Still, the same
recordkeeping legislation includes both records created in electronic document and
records systems as well as business systems. The results from the two
municipalities examined were similar when cross-analysing.
The result of the research conducted on nine good examples e-government
municipalities identified by SALAR, supports the result ‘lack of recordkeeping
awareness’, as presented in the first study. A content analysis was carried out on
the municipalities’ e-strategies and the result is presented in paper 2. The result
demonstrated that many municipalities did not highlight recordkeeping and
recordkeeping skills as important within their e-strategies. Archivists were not
mentioned as experts, instead the IT representatives were identified as experts and
IT functions were financially prioritised. There was much focus on creating e-
services in order to reach efficiency. Implementation of electronic document and
records management systems is mentioned, but not the long-term preservation of
information. Only one municipality mentions digital archive management,
assignments of responsibility, and owner of information and formats for
information as important. The issue of appraisal is not mentioned at all. Neither
was there any mention of the need to establish retention and disposal schemes.
That archivists are rarely given enough resources, which is described in paper 3
112
and 4, furthermore confirms a lack of recordkeeping awareness within the
examined nine municipalities. When cross-analysing the municipalities’ e-
strategies and the experiences of the archivists active at the same municipalities, it
was possible to identify connections regarding recordkeeping awareness and
resources given to archivists in order to work pro-actively. The few municipalities
that had expressed the importance of recordkeeping within their e-strategies had
also provided the archivists with more resources.
7.2. The Relationship between Documentation Practices and Recordkeeping Legislation Awareness within a New Context of Information Capture
Two different centralised information capture and documentation functions were
chosen, contact centre and centralised registry function, in order to investigate the
research question. The registry function was identified in the first step, which
included business improvement projects in two municipalities (see paper 1). The
contact centre function was recognised within the second research step of good
example e-government municipalities (see paper 2). Both functions serve as a
single contact spot at the organisations and have been centralised in order to
increase efficiency and quality using information technology. What differs is their
linkage to administration traditions in public organisations and the use of
technology.
Registry functions have long traditions. Registration has been used as an
administration and legal tool, i.e. facilitating structure and information access
within the organisations as well as upon request by the public upon and is
therefore a fundamental cornerstone of democracy. Since activities during the
process of handling the matter are registered, it promotes transparency as well as
trustworthiness. The system used for registration is adapted to serve specific
requirements of the legislation, e.g. identity code, date, name of sender and
receiver and subject heading. However, the information technology development
has entailed a development of the systems to include follow-up functions like
searchable metadata fields like annotations, date of reminder, date of closure, date
of decision etc.
A longitudinal case study was conducted of a centralised registry function
project, using public records such as those concerning political decisions, project
directive and project report to describe the initiation, start and implementation of
the reorganisation and centralisation of the function. Individual interviews have
been conducted on two occasions, 2010 and 2011, with the registrars active in the
function. The result of the study is presented in paper 6. The findings
demonstrated that the registry function in general was identified by the politicians
as important. The political decision to reorganise and centralise the function was
intended to increase quality and efficiency. The research findings confirmed that
113
the centralisation resulted in the capture of information increasing. In addition the
project aimed to implement the electronic document and records management
system at the administration departments to facilitate the process of decision
making for the administration officers. However, poor support as well as
inadequate knowledge of recordkeeping amongst the administration officers and
the chief executive officers caused delays in the implementation process.
Contact centres are examples of where registration is used as a business
development and efficiency tool. Contact centres serve as an interface between the
municipality and the citizens using several information technology channels like
the Internet, e-mail, chat, telephone, fax etc. in order to interact more efficiently.
The contact centre establishment is influenced by the private sector’s work with
call centres. Contact centre establishment is growing and as a result a European
standard was published in 2009 (SS-EN 15838:2009). Overall, using a variety of
channels with a user-centric approach corresponds well to the objectives set for the
strategic e-government development in Europe.
The function of contact centres was established as important when analysing
the e-government activities undertaken by the nine municipalities identified as
good examples by SALAR. Therefore, interviews were conducted during 2011 with
chief executive officers and/or project managers in order to explore motives behind
and functions of the establishment of contact centres. The findings demonstrated
that the establishment of contact centres is motivated by internal business process
development and cost savings. The staff had no traditional professional
recordkeeping background; rather knowledge of specific questions related to the
municipalities’ responsibility areas was valued, for example elderly care, social
service, childcare etc. The information captured and registered served several
purposes: to handle the process of decision making in simpler matters and
statistics for business improvement. The system used was seen as a hub to keep
track of the matters, but the content of the matters was often handled in separate
records managements systems. The status of the matter depended on the
individual employee’s knowledge. The study demonstrated a lack of
recordkeeping legislation awareness since the interviewees were uncertain as to
whether the information created at the first registration made in the system should
be considered as a record (official document), even though the function is subject
to and governed by the recordkeeping legislation. Therefore, it is not surprising
that the information captured has not been an issue for appraisal or long-term
preservation. Consequently, unlike the registry functions based on long traditions,
this kind of registration used as a business development and efficiency tool,
challenges the connection between the records’ reliability and authenticity. The
public organisations cannot be accountable for their actions. The studies of
centralised functions, a registry function and contact centres functions, made a
comparison between the possible functions. Inspired by Upward & McKemmish
114
(2006, p. 225), the research findings from the centralised functions have been
summarised in order to give a brief overview. Table 6. A summary of the research findings from the centralised functions
CONTINUUM
DIMENSIONS
Registry function Contact Centre Function
Create Fulfilled by defined routines based on
long administrative and legislative
traditions.
Not fulfilled since the registration
and the captured information is not
considered a record. The status is
unclear.
Capture Fulfilled by defined routines and
processes for the handling of matters
including retention and disposal schemes
with support of a electronic document
and records management system which
include meta data for example about the
business context. However, some of the
routines were object for revision.
The information is captured much
closer to the creation than ever
before. However, since the
information is not considered as a
record this dimension is not
implemented.
Organise Fulfilled to some extent. Record keeping
is well defined in the business processes
and seen as important which is
confirmed by the organisational location
of the function including centralisation of
the mail/e-mail. However, the
implementation and introduction of the
system to administrative officers and
chief executive officers have not been
fulfilled as planned.
The captured information serves
different purposes of which statistics
in order to improve business is
identified as important. The
boundaries of responsibilities
between the contact centre, the
committees and administrative
departments is not clear, which is
likely to depend on the status of the
issue and the kind of system as well
as system integration.
Pluralise Fulfilled but could be improved. The
organisational location of the centralised
function in itself aims to facilitate public
access to information. However, the
journal is not published and available
online. Furthermore, the archival
function is divided. The records are
transferred to the archival authority
according to the retention and disposal
schemes and preserved because an
electronic long-term preservation
solution is not yet established. However,
the archival authority has a long history
of functioning as an archival repository
which is well recognised by the public
and therefore this can be seen as support
for the collective memory.
Not fulfilled.
It is important to keep in mind the focus of the case studies did not include a
detailed analysis of the systems used, it was rather the initiation and establishment
115
of the centralised functions that were of interest. Nevertheless, the functions have
in common that they were established to capture information efficiently. However,
they have completely different origins as previously described. Registry functions
have a long tradition of how to handle records from a continuum perspective.
When analysing the effect of centralising a registry function according to
continuum, the challenges identified refer to the third ‘organisation’ and fourth
‘pluralise’ dimensions (see further paper 6). Regarding the contact centres,
registration and handling of a matter is captured much closer to the creation which
is interesting from a continuum perspective. The practice is organised by the centre
and corresponds to the third dimension ‘create’. However, since the information
captured is not considered as an official document (record), though the
information captured could be considered as a record, the other dimensions of the
records continuum are not fulfilled. Therefore, contact centres are good examples
of the need to expand the theoretical view of records as impartial evidence.
To summarise, both centralised functions aim to serve across organisational
boundaries, i.e. several committees’ and their administration departments, which
is challenging since each committee’s archives are to be kept separated from every
other committee’s archives in accordance with the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782).
Nevertheless, since registry functions have long administrative and legislative
traditions, there was an awareness of the recordkeeping legislation requirements,
which was not the case in the contact centre functions. This research clearly shows
that the recordkeeping knowledge needed by staff working in both these
centralised functions corresponds to that of registrars, who are the occupational
group traditionally associated with information capture. Furthermore, this view is
likely to affect the function and status of the archive as well, particularly since the
recordkeeping legislation provides a holistic perspective.
7.3. The Status of Recordkeeping Professionals in Public Organisations
In the second research study of good examples municipalities, archivists were
interviewed. The result of the interviews is presented in paper 3 and 4. Several of
the interviewees had extensive professional experience as archivists. All the
interviewed archivists postulated that they had a unique function because of their
holistic view on recordkeeping as they considered valuation of information over
time and within its context. Recordkeeping legislation was often mentioned as
important. The archivists were all aware of the challenges of handling electronic
records including long-term preservation. The informants expressed a need for
pro-active and strategic work including high level support. The need for higher
education as providers of knowledge on how to define and solve problems was
also expressed as important.
116
According to the conducted research on business improvement projects (paper
1) and good examples of e-government municipalities e-government strategies
(paper 2) and implementation of contact centres (paper 5), archivists in general
seem to not have strong positions at strategic levels, with the exception of
implementation of electronic document and records systems projects. Even though
many of them serve at larger municipalities, three of them have no colleagues. All
of them are work for archival authorities, which is usually the Executive
Committee. All archivists interviewed have a wide range of responsibilities
including auditing. However, eight of nine informants responded that they lacked
in resources and sometimes in skills in how to conduct the auditing task. The
double role, being an advisor as well as auditor, was perceived as conflicting when
participating in development projects.
There seems to be a connection between the informants’ resources and
prioritisation of work. There is a tendency towards prioritising the citizens’ right to
access to official documents. Nevertheless, informants with more resources are
prioritising development issues and are often more pro-active and visible within
their organisations. It was also possible to make a cross-synthesis between the
different e-governments strategies, the interviews with chief executive officers and
project managers in charge for the contact centres and the interviews with
archivists, since they are all from the nine municipalities identified as good
examples by SALAR. The analysis confirmed that the few municipalities with pro-
active archivists are more aware of the importance of recordkeeping in their e-
government strategic work.
The main research contribution of the examination of the status of registrars
derives from the first explorative study in which the centralised registry function
was identified, which is described in paper 1 and 6. See also the previous section
7.2 for an additional description of the function. The research findings based
primarily on interviews with the registrars in 2010 and 2011 demonstrate that they
have different educational backgrounds, often without higher education, which
posed challenges in how to meet requirements due to legislation on public access
to information and secrecy. The reorganisation has resulted in several registrars
working together, from being active as single registrars they were now part of a
professional community, which they found had strengthened their status and
identity in relation to the surrounding organisation. The centralisation included a
reorganisation of the registry function from being located in the different
administrative departments serving the committees to become part of the
executive committee organisation. The reorganisation was strategically important
considering that the executive committee functions as a preparatory body for all
matters decided by the council and often has the function of archival authority
(SFS 1990:782). Hence, the reorganisation emphasises the importance of
registration and the registrars as professionals. The registrars identified themselves
as being in the centre of the organisation, transferring recordkeeping knowledge
117
and providing service for the public and the internal organisation. In addition, the
registrars were given a strategically important role as knowledge provider, as they
were planned to implement an electronic document and records management
system organised as an internal training programme for administration officers
and chief executive officers. However, even though the politicians, when making
the decision to reorganise and centralise the function, identified it as strategically
important, the registrars did not find themselves being seen as ‘experts’ in the
wider organisation. Furthermore, the implementation of the system was not
completed as planned. According to the interviewees a lack of time and
recordkeeping knowledge among the chief executive officers and administration
officers were the primary factors behind the delay.
To summarise, the status of archivists and registrars depends on a variety of
interconnected factors. What both professional groups commonly perceived was
that the resources they were given were limited. Not surprisingly, their positions
and resources depend on how valued and recognised recordkeeping is at the
political arena as well as the workplace arena. Even if the political arena identifies
recordkeeping as strategically important it has to include the whole organisation in
order to be successful. In general, a lack of recordkeeping legislative requirements
in relation to the technology development offers possibilities as well poses
challenges regarding the professionals’ role as knowledge provider. This might
lead to a division of records management and archives management since it is
jeopardising the continuum approach. Therefore, it is possible that archivists may
lose part of their professional jurisdiction as described by Abbott (1988).
Another issue of concern is that the professionals themselves often lack in skills
which makes it difficult to prioritise assignments and work strategically which
opens up for other professional groups to replace them.
7.4. Concluding Remarks
The findings presented from the case studies provided an opportunity to analyse
the relationship between e-government development and recordkeeping using a
combination of theories. The following areas of concern emerged as a result from
the research findings and the literature review:
From continuum to life-cycle
Different needs and use of information
Focus on individual citizens
Less jurisdiction for archivists
7.4.1. From Continuum to Life Cycle
The current Swedish concept on archives corresponds to continuum thinking since
it is characterised by a holistic recordkeeping view (SFS 1990:782). However, the
118
findings of the undertaken studies in relation to the e-government development
demonstrate several challenges from a continuum perspective. The holistic
purpose of keeping archives seems to be changing, even though there have not yet
been any changes in legislation. As mentioned: the archives are part of the cultural
heritage and must be preserved, kept and managed to meet the public right of
access to information, the need for justice, administration and research. However,
the strategies and ongoing development projects’ focus is rather on the public
organisations’ need of using the information for their own business which means
providing service to individual citizens (see chapter 2.4.2: directives and reports).
The research findings furthermore complies with the development of the role and
function of the public archives as described in section 2.3.3, i.e. the archival
authorities, have in part lost influence because of the requirements posed by the
technological development on behalf of the value electronic information has
gained from a business need. Whereas, in addition, the responsibility to build
necessary archival repositories for electronic records has been suggested to be the
records creating agencies economical responsibility (SOU 2002:78, 2002), including
when to deliver their archival material to the archival authorities (SOU 1988:11,
1988).
Access to information in order to fulfil democratic rights and research are not
identified as important in the current ongoing e-government development projects.
Furthermore, there seems to be little interest in viewing archives as part of cultural
heritage. The future role of the National Archives is unclear, and the suggestion to
establish an e-archive solution characterised by life cycle thinking, where the
archive is managed depending on whether the records are considered to be
current, semi-active or transferred to archival authorities for long-term
preservation (Kristiansson & Almalander, 2013) does not support a continuum
view. Perhaps it is possible to discern a future cultural heritage emphasised
National Archives, despite a holistic legislative definition of archives stipulated in
the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782).
The archival authorities have long traditions of functioning as repositories for
archives kept for long-term preservation. Depending on what kind of information
the public needs access to, the location of where to access information has been
clearly stipulated in the Archives Act (SFS 1990:782). Therefore, the archival
authorities have been important as representatives from a democratic point of
view. The archives kept for long-term preservation has been administrated and
kept by the archival authorities in order to provide the public access to information
regardless of records creator. However, this may change depending on the future
role of the archival authorities, which may impact on future access to information
and the function of archives in relation to their status as being part of the national
heritage. If distinctions are made between responsibilities regarding whether the
information is paper-based or electronic, in time the cultural heritage objectives
will not be obtained, since there will not be any archives transferred to the custody
119
of archival authorities. It is no longer an issue of physical buildings, it is about who
owns the information; who is responsible for long-term preservation and for
making the information accessible in a broader societal perspective, i.e. meeting
current legal requirements (SFS 1949:105; SFS 1990:782), which is a far greater
commitment than fulfilling the public organisations’ business needs.
This area of concern may cause democratic and cultural heritage damages,
which in turn might lead to a reduced trust from the public in how the authorities’
handle information. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the role of
archival authorities in general, and the National Archives in particular, will be
settled.
7.4.2. Different Needs and Use of Information
Traditional recordkeeping systems seem to be replaced by or are used in parallel
with business systems in order to capture information. The technical development
is changing the way business and recordkeeping is conducted and confirms
research undertaken by Hurley (2004) and Mäkinen (2013). Due to e-government
initiatives user-centric services using several channels as one interface towards the
public are being implemented. The information is captured to serve several
interests including the organisations need of business development. The research
demonstrated that several generations of business systems were not handled
according to the recordkeeping legislation. It is questionable if the top
management at the municipalities and the politicians have enough knowledge of
the definitions of official documents and the fact that the format is unimportant for
the management according to the legislation. There seemed to be no awareness
that documents created within business systems have equal legal status as
documents created in electronic document and records systems. This research
further confirms Trace’s (2002) claims that records can serve different purposes
and their process of creation is determined by the producer of the records. The
information captured in the centralised contact centres does serve different
purposes, but the status of the information captured in relation to the
recordkeeping legislation is unclear. Furthermore, the level of skills of the
individual employee has impact on the content and the process of handling the
matter. Therefore, it is important to apply a more holistic view to understand the
purposes of why and how the information is captured before it is even seen as a
record. Hence, exploring the beginning of the life of a record is essential in order to
conduct strategic recordkeeping.
How archives are defined have impacted on how archivists have related to how
to manage archival information. For example, when archival repositories were
seen as serving as historical sources, archivists became historians. The archives of
today have changed focus, from history to business. Therefore, it is important that
archivists are updated on the development as described, including future trends
regarding information technology development. This requires archivists to co-
120
operate with other professionals and representatives at top management levels
involved in strategy.
7.4.3. Focus on Individual Citizens
Transparency and accountability are often identified as essential in a democratic
society (Gränström, et al., 2000, p. 64; Iacovino, 2010; SFS 1949:105; Shepherd,
2006). The presentation of the benchmark report furthermore confirms that
interoperability, trust and security are the prerequisites for creating sustainable e-
government (European Commission: Directorate General of Communications
Networks, 2013). Hence, it is interesting to read about the measurement describing
each country’s attitude towards e-government, according to four types of attitudes,
when using e-government services. The attitudes are divided into: ‘believer’ (loyal
user); ‘potential drop out’; ‘potential users’; and ‘non-believer’. Sweden is ranked
as the second best country representing ‘believers (European Commission:
Directorate General of Communications Networks, 2013, p. 20). The result could
indicate that citizens trust using e-government services which could furthermore
be a result of the transparency provided by a strong tradition of access to official
documents.
However, according to the research findings, it seems that the public right to
free access to information according to the freedom of information legislation (SFS
1949:105) is simply forgotten or not interesting, at least it is not mentioned as
important. This together with another area of concern, ‘from continuum to life
cycle’ described in section 7.4.1, could lead to democratic consequences because it
may limit and decrease transparency for the society, i.e. have an impact on the
level of trust, which is actually the opposite of what the e-government
development aims to achieve.
7.4.4. Less Jurisdiction for Archivists
When analysing the research findings according to the model for analysing
recordkeeping awareness in three arenas, legislation political and workplace, it is
striking that the political arena, which is in between the legislation and workplace
arena, is very important for the issue of recordkeeping awareness within the
organisation. The political arena, including the role of archival authority, makes
crucial decisions including financing and organisation, which the workplace arena
has to attend to. Even though the legislation arena provides very clear definitions
of the importance of recordkeeping and archives’ fundamental function in the
society, the research findings have, as described, identified several challenges
related to the definition of the archive that need to be solved.
This research confirms that recordkeeping awareness across the whole
organisation is needed in order to fulfil legislative requirements (Shepherd, et al.,
2009) as well as implementing electronic records management (McLeod, et al.,
121
2010). The research findings further indicate that archivists are connected to
‘traditional’ paper-based records and the management of these, which confirms
research conducted by Runardotter (2007), Barata (2004) and Oliver et al. (2011).
Electronic recordkeeping has been an issue for decades, even though e-government
development highlights and accelerates the implementation process. Although all
the archivist professionals are aware of the challenges with electronic
recordkeeping and the need for a pro-active approach in order to capture a record
and fix it in its context of creation so that it can be recalled, re-represented and
distributed, they often do not work strategically and pro-actively. Underlying
factors seems to be a lack in skills in particular long-term preservation methods
and legislation, and resources.
Archivists often have an important assignment as auditors on behalf of the
archival authority. Auditing could be an important tool in evaluating electronic
recordkeeping and in order to reach strategic positions, i.e. to strengthen their
status and support professional autonomy. However, auditing is often not carried
out and is not prioritised, which is surprising since the archival authority,
represented by the politicians, are obliged to fulfil this according to the Archives
Act (SFS 1990:782). Sometimes the double role of advisor and auditor felt
complicated when participating in development projects, because the archivist
represents different interests which might conflict.
The overall research findings confirm that archivists do not have any major
influence on the strategic e-government development. Because this seems to be the
reality, the archivists’ autonomous functions as professionals are minimised. When
archivists lose professional status it opens up for other professional groups to
replace them: professions that have the power to communicate the challenges
identified and present solutions. Since the focus of e-government development
projects is on establishing functions to support information capture, registrars
could have a more strategic role as knowledge providers in the organisation.
However, the research conducted has identified several challenges, such as poor
support and inadequate knowledge of recordkeeping in general, in the
organisation as well as an expressed need for improved knowledge by the
registrars themselves. Currently, it seems that registrars and archivists are not
interfering on each other’s jurisdictions. The major challenge is that traditional
recordkeeping systems seem to be replaced by other business driven initiatives to
capture information where the link to traditional recordkeeping professions does
not exist, even though new information capture functions including e-services
could be important as a record. Furthermore, researchers within the information
system technology field have come to discuss the challenges of integration of
systems and privacy issues (e.g. Arnesen & Danielsson, 2007; Chun, et al., 2010;
Evans & Yen, 2005). But, so far they have not included a holistic view on
recordkeeping, nor made sure that records are to be captured, managed,
maintained and preserved.
122
Archivists cannot wait until they obtain more resources – they actually have to
claim their positions and they have a way of achieving this is by exercising their
mandate as auditors. The way forward could be to strengthen the profession by
giving the profession appropriate skills and working tools and methods that could
be adopted to meet the requirements of electronic recordkeeping, such as
developing models for auditing including standards and legislation, i.e. create a
new possibility to support professional autonomy as a way to evaluate and raise
awareness of recordkeeping (Bezes, et al., 2012). Hence, auditing might strengthen
the professional jurisdiction in the legal arena as defined by the archives legislation
(SFS 1990:782). This work should be a matter for higher education. As stated by
Körmendy (2007), there are signals between the archives and society as ‘an
iterative game’. However, instead of just being adapted to the ongoing
development, i.e. educating archivists to serve managerialism, where the current
values of records are determined by the organisations business’ needs (Brothman,
2002, 2010), higher education should also provide a deeper theoretical
understanding of the importance of archives from a broader perspective. This is of
paramount importance for the continued development and establishment of the
archival discipline to meet changing contexts in recordkeeping.
7.5. Research Limitations
The research conducted and presented here has its limitations just like any other
research. This research is limited to cases in Swedish local government. This
research is a study of the relationship between e-government development,
recordkeeping awareness and practice as a phenomenon. The research reflects and
analyses an ongoing contemporary process within a specific context. The results
cannot be considered the general rule or representative for all local governments
and recordkeeping practice. However, the findings could have relevance in any
government body that is working with implementation of e-services, since e-
government development is conducted in a worldwide collaboration between
nations.
7.6. Research Contribution
My theoretical standpoint attempted to contribute to an understanding of how the
view of records as evidence is interpreted and corresponds to information capture
efforts, and furthermore how the representation or lack of representation claimed
by professional recordkeepers as knowledge providers may influence and
challenge the nature of the archival body of knowledge. The methodological
framework outlined in chapter 4 has explained the research process undertaken to
achieve this. A combination of theories have been used to conduct the study, which
has contributed to enrich the analysis of the research findings which consider the
123
archive as changing shape due to the surrounding society. It is clear that several
recordkeeping challenges have been identified as a result of the political
stakeholder’s ambition of using information to serve the interests of the nation.
Within archival science there has not been much research undertaken on e-
government and its impact on recordkeeping. Therefore an important research
contribution has been the research design where a model created for analysis of
recordkeeping awareness has been established to be used to complement records
continuum. In addition, research concerning the manifestation of records is
included. The choice to integrate theories of professions inspired the development
of the recordkeeping awareness model as well as to represent records management
and archives management when analysing the link between an occupation and
work, in this case registrars and archivists, using a continuum perspective. The
analyses made have demonstrated that there is currently a gap between the legal
and workplace arenas in both directions caused by lack of recordkeeping
awareness primarily within the political arena. Major financial investments in the
development of e-government are currently being carried out by the
municipalities. The lack of recordkeeping awareness can lead to increased costs
and democratic limitations in citizens’ right to access public information, because
the legislative requirements are not met. The archivists’ professional status seems
to be limited, which opens up for other professions. Archivists, as well as
registrars, seem to suffer a lack of resources as well as skills in order to conduct
their responsibilities. Auditing can be used by archivists as a powerful tool to
achieve a more strategic position in order to avoid information loss and raise
recordkeeping awareness. Hence, auditing is an autonomous task strongly
connected to the legislation and a long tradition of practice. This research suggests
that archivists as well as registrars need to increase their skills, possibly from
institutions of higher education in order to obtain additional skills, which is
needed for pro-active and strategic work. The relation between research-practice
and higher education is important for the professionals as well as the archival
science research field since there is a strong link between science-based education
and specific positions within the labor market.
As researchers within the field of archival science we should strive to
communicate our results with other research communities, such as the information
system technology field. Research findings indicate that IT professions are
increasing their professional influence and positions within the strategic e-
government work. It is clear that IT units are prioritised when it comes to extended
resources. Collaboration between the research communities as well as professional
practitioners is necessary in order to suggest solutions and reach strategic levels of
influence. There is still a core of specialised knowledge that is exclusive for each
field. This core of knowledge needs to be nourished and explored in order to find
new models, but furthermore, acknowledge and secure the societal function of
124
archives in a broader perspective, as sources to serve the whole society and not
only to serve organisations’ business needs.
7.7. Future Research
The research presented is a result of a research process, of which the result has
been presented in this thesis. As a result of research findings so far, it is clear that
further research is warranted since, as the result findings demonstrate, archival
science is currently facing societal changes due to e-government strategic
development initiatives, which are not defined and isolated to how to manage
electronic records. Public organisations are changing their internal and external
administration in order to meet efficiency and quality business improvements.
Concepts and methods for recordkeeping, i.e. the archival body of knowledge, are
challenged for many reasons, which is indicated by this research. Therefore,
further research is of great importance.
Ideas for future research are for example finding models to analyse information,
i.e. exploring the beginning of the life of a record before it is even recognised as a
record. It is important to think a step further beyond evidence thinking. This in
turn might provide archivists with essential tools to be used when analysing
information in general and for auditing. Consequently, it could strengthen their
jurisdiction, as well as contribute to recordkeeping consciousness.
More importantly, public archives are invaluable cornerstones of a democratic
society beyond pure business interests. Therefore, the future success of e-
government development in public organisations will likely depend on the level of
trust received by the public.
125
EPILOGUE
I hope you have found my thesis interesting to read and that it made you reflect on
recordkeeping and e-government development. If so, I am very pleased, because
then I have caught your attention.
Have you figured out which of the characters described in the thesis played or
maybe should have played the role of the child in the crowd, who dared to speak
truth to power? When I started my research, I expected the professional archivists
to play the role, but they did not tell those in power the truth, because of different
reasons, described in the thesis.
The thesis presented covers several years of research. During this research
process several initiatives have been taken, which means that the research findings,
also reflect the dynamic time that characterises the e-government/recordkeeping
nexus in the society of today. Therefore, based on the current e-government
initiatives described in the cover paper and the research findings presented in the
papers, I would like to claim that the Emperor’s new clothes are not longer
invisible; the seams are now visible as opposed to the situation three years ago.
Archives are nowadays mentioned and recognised in the Swedish strategic e-
government work, thanks to the eARD project, which is a major achievement and
recognition. Nevertheless, there are areas of concern, as described that need to be
dealt with from a recordkeeping point of view. Here, the scientific community as
impartial researchers have an important role to play as providers of research and
higher education in archival science.
End of story!
126
REFERENCES
Abbott, A. (1988). The system of professions. London: The University of Chicago
Press, Ltd.
Abrahamsson, B., & Andersen, J. A. (2005). Organisation -att beskriva och förstå
organisationer (4:2 ed.). Malmö: Liber AB.
Agger, B. (1991). Critical theory, poststructuralism, postmodernism: their
sociological relevance. Annual Review of Sociology, 105-131.
Alvesson, M. (2002). Postmodernism and social research. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (2008). Tolkning och reflektion (2:3 ed.). Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
Ambriola, V., Bertagnini, S., & Pratesi, L. (2007). Call centre evolution in the digital
government. In A.-V. Anttiroiko & M. Malkia (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Digital
Government (pp. 158-162).
Andersen, H. C. (1980). Kejsarens nya kläder. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell Förlag
AB.
Archival Education and Research Institutes (AERI) (2009). Retrieved 24 July, 2013,
from http://aeri.gseis.ucla.edu/aeri.htm
Archives and Records Challenges in the Digital Information Society (ARCHIDIS)
Intensive Program (2011). Retrieved 24 July, 2013, from
http://www.archidis-naet.eu/
ARMA International (2013). http://www.arma.org/ Retrieved 24 July 2013
Arnesen, R. R., & Danielsson, J. (2007). Protecting citizen privacy in digital
government. In A.-V. Anttiroiko & M. Malkia (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Digital
Government (pp. 1358-1363).
Arvidson, B. (2000). Registratorns yrkesroll i förändring. Från "sprätthöna" till
"kaospilot". Från verksamhet till profession? Mid Sweden University.
Aspenfjäll, J. (2013). Förstudie Statens servicecenter e-arkiv & e-diarium. from
http://www.riksarkivet.se/default.aspx?ptid=1145&id=28728.
Asproth, V., Borglund, E., Samuelsson, G., & Öberg, L.-M. (2010). E-tjänstens
framtida historia - informationsbevarande, ett bortglömt ansvarsområde?
In K. Lindblad-Gidlund, A. Ekelin, S. Eriksén & A. Ranerup (Eds.),
Förvaltning och medborgarskap i förändring (pp. 167-184). Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
Atherton, J. (1985-1986). From life cycle to continuum: some thoughts on the
records management - archives relationship. Archivaria, 21, 43-51.
Bailey, S. (2007). Taking the road less travelled by: the future of the archive and
records management profession in the digital age. Journal of the Society of
Archivists, 28(2), 117-124.
Barata, K. (2004). Archives in the digital age. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 25(1),
63-70.
127
Bearman, D. (1994). Electronic evidence, strategies for managing records in contemporary
organizations. Pittsburgh: Archives & Museums Informatics.
Bezes, P., Demaziére, D., Le Bianic, T., Paradeise, C., Normand, R., Benamouzig,
D., et al. (2012). New public management and professionals in the public
sector. What new patterns beyond opposition? Sociologie du travail, 54, e1-
e52.
Bien, L. (1997). Who goes there?: Visual resources - professionals as gatekeepers.
Visual Resources: An International Journal of Documentation, 13(2), 151-160.
Bohlin, A. (2010). Offentlighetsprincipen (8:1 ed.). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB.
Borglund, E. A. M. (2008). Design for recordkeeping: areas of improvement. Mid
Sweden University, Sundsvall.
Brothman, B. (1999). Declining Derrida: integrity, tensegrity, and the preservation
of archives from deconstruction. Archivaria, 48, 63-88.
Brothman, B. (2002). Afterglow: conceptions of record and evidence in archival
discourse. Archival Science, 2(3), 311-342.
Brothman, B. (2010). Perfect present, perfect gift: finding a place for archival
consciousness in social theory. Archival Science, 10(2), 141-189.
Bryman, A. (2013). Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder (2:4 ed.). Malmö: Liber AB.
Börjesson, M., & Palmblad, E. (Eds.). (2007). Diskursanalys i praktiken. Malmö: LIber.
Castells, M. (1996). The information age: economy, society and culture: volume 1, The rise
of the network society. Massachussetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Castells, M. (2009). Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Center for Digital Government (2009). Your journey, your way: choices, connections
and a guide to the sweet path in government portal modernization. Retrieved 19
October 2013. from
http://media.govtech.net/Resource%20Centers/GT_GOV%20NIC%20RC%2
010/CDG10_STRATEGY_NIC_ALL_V.pdf.
Centre for Digital Information Management 'CEDIF' (2013). CEDIF Centrum för
digital informationsförvaltning Retrieved 19 October, 2013, from
http://www.miun.se/cedif
Chun, S. A., Shulman, S., Sandoval, R., & Hovy, E. (2010). Government 2.0: making
connections between citizens, data and government. Information Polity, 15,
1-9.
Coffe Jr, J. C. (2006). Gatekeepers - the professions and corporate governance. Oxford:
Oxford University Press Inc.
Commission of the European Communities (2009). Europe´s digital competitiveness
report, volume 2:i2010 - ICT country profiles: European Commission.
Committee directive Dir 2013:2 (2013). Better conditions on re-use of public sector
information Retrieved 9 July 2013. from
http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/Dokument-
Lagar/Utredningar/Kommittedirektiv/Battre-forutsattningar-for-
vid_DIR2013;2/.
128
Cook, T. (1997). What is past is prologue: a history of archival ideas since 1898, and
the future paradigm shift Archivaria, 43, 17-63.
Cook, T. (2001a). Archival science and postmodernism: new formulations for old
concepts. Archival Science, 1(1), 3-24.
Cook, T. (2001b). Fashionable nonsense or professional rebirth: postmodernism
and the practice of archives. Archivaria, 51, 14-35.
Cook, T. (2002). Archives, records and power: the making of modern memory.
Archival Science, 2(1), 1-19.
Cook, T., & Schwartz, J. M. (2002). Archives, records and power: from
(postmodern) theory to (archival) performance. Archival Science, 2(3), 171-
185.
Corral, M. (2010). Put user in the centre for services - a reference model. Luxembourg:
European Commission, Open Innovation and Strategy Group in DG
Information Society and Media.
Cox, R. J. (1994). The first generation of electronic records archivists in the United States.
New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.
Cox, R. J. (2006). Are there really new directions and innovations in archival
education? Archival Science, 6(2), 247-261.
Cox, R. J. (2011). Appraisal and the future of archives in the digital era. In J. Hill
(Ed.), The future of archives and recordkeeping - a reader (pp. 211-237). London:
Facet Publishing.
Cox, R. J., & Wallace, D. A. (Eds.). (2002). Archives and the public good - accountability
and records in modern society. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books.
Craig, B. L. (2000). Canadian archivists: what types of people are they? Archivaria,
50, 79-92.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design - choosing among five
approaches (2 ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Crockett, M. (2007). Continuing professional development and the hallmarks of
professionalism: an overview of the current environment for the record-
keeping profession. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 28(1), 77.102.
Crompton, R., & Lyonette, C. (2005). The new gender essentialism - domestic and
family 'choices' and their relations to attitudes. The British Journal of
Sociology, 56, 601-620.
Cumming, K. (2010). Ways of seeing: contextualising the continuum. Records
Management Journal, 20(1), 41-52.
Cunningham, A. (2005). Archival institutions. In S. McKemmish, M. Piggott, B.
Reed & F. Upward (Eds.), Archives: recordkeeping in society (pp. 21-50).
Wagga Wagga New South Wales: Centre for Information Studies.
Dahle, R. (2008). Profesjon og kjØnn. In A. Molander & L. I. Terum (Eds.),
Profesjonsstudier (pp. 216-232). Oslo: Universitetsförlaget.
129
Davis, M. (2005). Scientific papers and presentations (2 ed.). San Diego: Academic
Press
Dearstyne, B. W. (2008). Leading archives and records programs; perspectives and
insights. In B. W. Dearstyne (Ed.), Leading and managing archives and records
programs - strategies for success (pp. 291-312). London: Facet Publishing.
Delmas, B. (2001). Archival science facing the information society. Archival Science,
1(1), 25-37.
Denvall, V., & Johansson, K. (2012). "Kejsarens nya kläder -implementering av
evidensbaserad praktik i socialt arbete". Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 1, 26-45.
Derrida, J. (1996). Archive fever - a Freudian impression Chicago: University of
Chicago Press
DIK (2010). http://www.dik.se/www/dik/web.nsf/dx/Arkivarie Retrieved 25
February, 2010
Dingwall, G. (2010). Life cycle and continuum: a view of recordkeeping models
from the postwar era. In T. Eastwood & H. MacNeil (Eds.), Currents of
archival thinking (pp. 139-161). Santa Barbara, California: Libraries
Unlimited.
DLM Forum Foundations (2011). MoReq2010 Modular Requirements for Records
Systems (pp. 524): European Commission.
Dollar, C. M. (1992). Archival theory and information technologies The University of
Macerata.
Drüke, H. (2007). Skilling for e-government. In A.-V. Anttiroiko & M. Malkia (Eds.),
Encyclopedia of Digital Government (pp. 1451-1459).
Duchein, M. (1992). The history of European archives and the development of the
archival profession in Europe. American Archivist, 55, 14-24.
Duranti, L. (1989). The odyssey of records managers, part II: from the middle ages
to modern times. ARMA Quarterly, October 1989, 3-6, 8-10.
Duranti, L. (1989-1990). Diplomatics: new uses for an old science (part II).
Archivaria, 29, 4-17.
Duranti, L. (1996). Archives as a place. Archives and Manuscripts, 24(2), 242-256.
Duranti, L. (2001). The impact of digital technology on archival science. Archival
Science, 1(1), 39-55.
Duranti, L. (2010). Concepts and principles for the management of electronic
records, or records management theory is archival diplomatics. Records
Management Journal, 20(1), 78-95.
E-delegationen (2013a). E-delegationen Retrieved 1 August, 2013, from
http://www.edelegationen.se/
E-delegationen (2013b). Kort om E-delegationen Retrieved 7 October, 2013, from
http://www.edelegationen.se/Om-oss/Kort-om-E-delegationen/
Eastwood, T. (2002). Reflections on the goal of archival appraisal in democratic
societies. Archivaria, 54, 59-71.
130
Eastwood, T. (2010). A contested realm: the nature of archives and the orientation
of archival science. In T. Eastwood & MacNeil (Eds.), Currents of archival
thinking (pp. 3-21). Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited.
Edmark, H. (2013). Europeisk Standard för kundkontaktcenter Nr SS-EN
15838:2009 Bakgrund-status-framtid - Informationsblad. In Swedish
Standards Institute (Ed.). Stockholm: SIS Förlag AB
Ejvegård, R. (2009). Vetenskaplig metod (4 ed.). Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Ekenstierna, B. (2012). Min ärendeöversikt - slutrapport. Retrieved 12 July 2013. from
http://www.edelegationen.se/Nationella-
projekt/Forvaltningsgemensamma-tjanster/Min-arendeoversikt/.
Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2007). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 62 (1), 107-115.
Endsley, M. R., Bolté, B., & Jones, D. G. (2003). Designing for situation awareness - an
approach to user-centered design. London: Taylor & Francis.
Endsley, M. R., & Garland, D. J. (2000). Situation awareness analysis and measurement.
Mahwah New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
European Commission (2011). European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015
Retrieved 30 May 2011. from
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/action_pla
n_2011_2015/index_en.htm.
European Commission (2012). Digital agenda for Europe - a 2020 initiative
Retrieved 16 July, 2013, from http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/digital-
agenda-europe
European Commission IDABC programme (2009). EGovernment in Sweden
Retrieved 6 October, 2009, from http://www.epractice.eu/node/285078
European Commission: Directorate General of Communications Networks, C. T.
(2013). Public services online 'Digital by default or by detour?' Assessing user
cnetric eGovernment performance in Europe - eGovernment benchmark 2012.
Luxembourg: European Commission.
Evans, D., & Yen, C. D. (2005). E-government: An analysis for implementation:
Framework for understanding cultural and social impact. Government
Information Quarterly, 22, 354-373.
Evans, D., & Yen, C. D. (2007). American e-government service sectors and
applications. In A.-V. Anttiroiko & M. Malkia (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Digital
Government (pp. 49-55).
Evetts, J. (1999). Professional identity, strategy and change. In I. Hellberg, M. Saks
& C. Benoit (Eds.), Professional Identities in Transition (pp. 13-26). Göteborg:
Department of Sociology, Göteborg University.
Fact sheet JU00.14e (2000). The Swedish approach to public access to documents.
Retrieved 27 June 2013. from
http://www.government.se/sb/d/2768/a/16287/dictionary/true.
131
Fact sheet JU99.04e (1999). Administrative procedure act - a foundation for legal security
and service. Retrieved 9 July 2013. from
http://www.government.se/sb/d/3288/a/19564.
Fang, Z. (2002). E-government in digital era: concept, practice and development.
International Journal of The Computer, The Internet and Management, Vol. 10,
No. 2, 1-22.
Fidel, R. (1993). Qualitative methods in information retrieval research. LISR, 15,
219-247.
Finansdepartementet (2009). Kommittédirektiv, delegationen för e-förvaltning.
Flensburg, P. (2008). Innovative e-services for competence development and work support
for customer service Retrieved 1 June 2013. from http://e-
cirkel.net/bakgrund/slutrapporter-fran-kartlaggningen/.
Fountain, J. E. (2001). Building the virtual state - information technology and
institutional change. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
Frazer, N. (1989). Talking about needs: interpretive contests as political conflict in
welfare-state societies. Ethics, 99, 291-313.
Fredriksson, B. (2003). Postmodernistic archival science - rethinking the
methodology of a science. Archival Science, 3(2), 177-197.
Fredriksson, B., & Naeslund Lems, S. (2010). Rapport från ICA CITRA, Imagining
the 21st Century archivist: new strategies for education and training 17-19
November 2009. Arkiv, samhälle och forskning, 1, 86-93.
Fundin, E., & Sundell, A.-L. (undated). Ledaren i kundens tjänst? En kognitiv
studie om ledarskap inom den nya kundtjänstorganisationen. Retrieved
from http://e-cirkel.net/bakgrund/litteratur/
Gallego-Álvarez, I., Rodríquez-Domínquez, L., & García-Sánchez, I.-M. (2010). Are
determing factors of municipal E-government common to worldwide
municpal view? An intra-country comparison. Government Information
Quarterley, 27, 423-430.
Gilliland-Swetland, A. J. (2000). Enduring paradigm: new opportunities - the value of
the archival perspective in the digital environment. Washington, D.C. : Council
on Library and Information Resources
Glasare, G. (2009). E-förvaltningsutveckling i Sveriges kommuner 2006-2008: delrapport
3. Stockholm: Sveriges kommuner och landsting.
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2003). Theory and reality- an introduction to the philosophy of
science London: Chicago III, University of Chicago Press.
Goldkuhl, G. (2009). Innovation in a regulated environment? - Legal barriers for e-
government development. International Journal of Public Information Systems
- IJPIS, 2009:2, 77-95.
Government Offices of Sweden (2011a). Digital agenda Retrieved 8 February, 2013,
from http://www.government.se/sb/d/2156/a/163994
Government Offices of Sweden (2011b). ICT for Everyone - A Digital Agenda for
Sweden.
132
Government Offices of Sweden (2012). Med medborgaren i centrum, Regeringens
strategi för en digitalt samverkande statsförvaltning.
Government Offices of Sweden (2013). Government terms. Retrieved 11 August
2013. from http://www.government.se/sb/d/2979.
Graafland-Essers, I., & Ettedgui, E. (2003). Benchmarking e-Government in Europe and
the US: RAND.
Granath, P., Alariksson, S., & Axelsson, S. (2004). Creating a system for public
information: the Swedish aid agency´s tranformation to electronic
administration. Records Management Journal, 14(1), 25-32.
Gruening, G. (2001). Origin and theoretical basis of New Public Management.
International Public Management Journal, 4, 1-25.
Gränström, C., Lundquist, L., & Fredriksson, K. (2000). Arkivlagen - bakgrund och
kommentarer (2:1 ed.). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik.
Guijarro, L. (2007). Interoperability frameworks and enterprise architecture in
egovernment initiatives in Europe and the United States. Government
Information Quarterly 24, 89-101.
Gule, L. (2008). Profesjon og flerkulturalitet. In A. Molander & L. I. Terum (Eds.),
Profesjonsstudier (pp. 233-250). Oslo: Universitetsförlaget.
Görling, S. (2009). Att arbeta med IT-projekt. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Hansen, L.-E. (2009). I handlingarnas centrum - registratorer berättar: Arkivrådet AAS
och TAM-arkiv.
Harris, V. (2005). Something is happening here and you don't know what it is:
Jacques Derrida unplugged. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 26(1), 131-
142.
Harris, V. (2011a). Archons, aliens and angels: power, politics in the archive. In J.
Hill (Ed.), The future of archives and recordkeeping (pp. 103-122). London:
Facet Publishing.
Harris, V. (2011b). Jacques Derrida meets Nelson Mandela: archival ethics at the
endgame. Archival Science, 11, 113-124.
Hellberg, I. (1995). Det professionella tjänstesamhället. In L. G. Svensson & P.
Orban (Eds.), Människan i tjänstesamhället (pp. 88-115). Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
Hofman, H. (2005). The archive. In S. McKemmish, M. Piggot, B. Reed & F.
Upward (Eds.), Archives: recordkeeping in society (pp. 131-158). Wagga
Wagga, New South Wales: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt
University.
Holmberg, A. (2010). Vilse i arkivet - Handbok i kommunal dokumenthantering (Fourth
ed.). Stockholm: SKL Kommentus AB.
Holme, I. M., & Krohn Solvang, B. (1997). Forskningsmetodik - Om kvalitativa och
kvantitativa metoder (2 ed.). Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Hood, C. (1995). The "New Public Management" in the 1980s: variations on a
theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society 20(2/3), 93-109.
133
Hurley, C. (2004). What, if anything, is records management? Paper presented at the
RMAA Conference September 2004.
Hurley, C. (2005). Recordkeeping and accountability. In S. McKemmish, M. Piggot,
B. Reed & F. Upward (Eds.), Archives: recordkeeping in society (pp. 223-253).
Wagga Wagga New South Wales: Charles Sturt University, Centre for
Information Studies.
Häggroth, S., Kronvall, K., Riberdahl, C., & Rudebeck, K. (1999). Swedish local
government: traditions and reforms (3 ed.). Falköping: Swedish Institute.
Iacovino, L. (2005). Recordkeeping and juridical governance. In S. McKemmish, M.
Piggott, B. Reed & F. Upward (Eds.), Archives: recordkeeping in society (pp.
255-276). Wagga Wagga, New South Wales: Centre for Information
Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Iacovino, L. (2010). Archives as arsenals of accountability. In T. Eastwood & H.
MacNeil (Eds.), Currents of archival thinking (pp. 181-212). Santa Barbara,
California: Libraries Unlimited.
International Council on Archives (2008). Principles and functional requirements
for records in electronic office environments, Module 3 Guidelines and
functional requirements for records in business systems (pp. 74):
International Council on Archives.
International Council on Archives (2010). Universal Declaration on Archives.
Retrieved 1 October 2013. from http://www.ica.org/6573/reference-
documents/universal-declaration-on-archives.html.
International Council on Archives ICA (2013). ICA-Glossary. Retrieved 19 October
2013. from http://www.ica.org/122/ica-glossary/glossary-of-terms-often-
used-in-ica.html.
International Organization for Standardization (2001). ISO 15489-1:2001,
Information and documentation, Records management, Part 1: General.
International Organization for Standardization (2008). ISO/TR 26122:2008,
Information and documentation, Work process analysis for records.
International Organization for Standardization (2011). ISO 30300:2011, Information
and documentation - Management systems for records - Fundamentals
and vocabulary
InterPARES Project - International Research on Authentic Records in Electronic
Systems (2002). The InterPARES Glossary - A controlled vocabulary of terms
used in the InterPARES Project from http://www.interpares.org/reports.htm.
InterPARES Project - International Research on Authentic Records in Electronic
Systems (2013). Retrieved 27 June, 2013, from www.interpares.org
Jenkinson, H. (1922). A manual of archive administration including the problems of war
archives and archive making. Oxford: Oxford: at the Clarendon Press.
Jonasson, L., & Glasare, G. (2011). E-förvaltning och e-tjänster i Sveriges kommuner
2011. Stockholm: Sveriges kommuner och landsting.
134
Kaijser, F. (1962). 1862 års kommunalförordningar. In S. U. Palme (Ed.), Hundra år
under kommunalförfattningarna 1862-1962 - en minnesskrift (pp. 11-66).
Stockholm: Svenska Landskommunernas Förbund, Svenska
Landstingsförbundet, Svenska Stadsförbundet
Kallberg, M., Svärd, P., & Sundberg, H. (2010, March 18-21). Improving local
government - a survey of problems. Paper presented at the IADIS
International Conference e-Society 2010, Porto, Portugal.
Kaplan, B., & Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research methods for evaluating
computer information systems Evaluating the Organizational Impact of
Healthcare Information Systems.
Karapetrovic, S. (2002). Research and concepts, Strategies for the integration of
management systems and standards. TQM Magazine, 14(1), 61-67.
Ketelaar, E. (2001). Tacit narratives: the meanings of archives. Archival Science, 1(2),
131-141.
Kjölstad, T. (2005). 7 kapitel om arkiv- och informationsvetenskap: Landsarkivet i
Härnösand.
Knape, A. (2011). Strategi för eSamhället. Stockholm: Sveriges kommuner och
landsting.
Kommittédirektiv 2011:86 (2011). Integritet, effektivitet och öppenhet i en modern e-
förvaltning. from http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/Dokument-
Lagar/Utredningar/Kommittedirektiv/Integritet-effektivitet-och-
o_DIR2011;86/.
Krippendorff, K. (2013). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology (3 ed.).
Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Kristiansson, G., & Almalander, C. (2013). E-Arkiv och e-Diarium (eARD)
Retrieved 8 July, 2013, from http://riksarkivet.se/e-arkiv
Kristiansson, G., Almalander, C., & Geber, M. (2013). E-arkiv och e-diarium (eARD)
översiktlig beskrivning. Retrieved 8 July 2013. from
http://www.riksarkivet.se/default.aspx?id=26804&refid=25208.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Den kvalitativa forskningsintervjun (2 ed.). Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
Kymlicka, W. (2002). Contemporary Political philosophy (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford
University Press
Körmendy, L. (2007). Changes in archives' philosophy and functions at the turn of
the 20th/21st centuries. Archival Science, 7(2), 167-177.
Lane, V., & Hill, J. (2011). Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we
going? Situating the archive and archivists. In J. Hill (Ed.), The future of
archives and recordkeeping - a reader (pp. 3-22). London: Facet Publishing.
Larsson, E. (2001). Måste jag diarieföra det här? En handbok om regler och rutiner för
ärenderegistrering. Stockholm: Kommentus Förlag.
Larsson, T., & Bäck, H. (2008). Governing and governance in Sweden (1:1 ed.). Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
135
Lizama Salvatore, C. (2012). Defending the professional archivist. In B. Crowley
(Ed.), Defending professionalism - a resource for librarians, information
specialists, knowledge managers, and archivists (pp. 119-131). Santa Barbara,
California: Libriaries Unlimited.
Lokke, C. (1968). Archives and the French Revolution. American Archivist, 31(1,
January 1968), 23-31.
Lybeck, J. (2003). Archival education in Scandinavia. Archival Science, 3(2), 97-116.
Löfstedt, U. (2010). Kommunala e-tjänster - fokus, utveckling och
medborgardeltagande. In K. Lindblad-Gidlund, A. Ekelin, S. Eriksén & A.
Ranerup (Eds.), Förvaltning och medborgarskap i förändring (1:1 ed., pp. 67-
82). Lund: Studentlitteratur
Macdonald, K. M. (1995). The sociology of professions. London: SAGE Publications
Ltd.
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discource analysis. London:
Thousand Oaks, California.
MacNeil, H. (2000). Trusting records - legal, historical and diplomatic perspectives (Vol.
1). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
MacNeil, H. (2001). Trusting records in a postmodern world. Archivaria, 51, 36-47.
Magnusson Sjöberg, C., Nordbeck, P., Nordén, A., & Westman, D. (2011).
Rättsinformatik - inblickar i e-samhället, e-handel och e-förvaltning (1:1 ed.).
Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Magretta, J. (2005). Vad är management egentligen? Stockholm: Svenska Förlaget.
Marthinsen, J. H. (2012). Arkivteori - en innføring (Vol. 36). Oslo: Riksarkivet
Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. Mahwah, New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
McDonald, J. (2010). Records management and data management: closing the gap.
Records Management Journal, 20(1), 53-60.
McKemmish, S. (2001). Placing records continuum theory and practice. Archival
Science 1(4), 333-359.
McKemmish, S. (2005). Traces: document, record, archive, archives. In S.
McKemmish, M. Piggott, B. Reed & F. Upward (Eds.), Archives:
recordkeeping in society (pp. 1-20). Wagga Wagga New South Wales Centre
for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University
McKemmish, S., & Gilliland, A. (2013). Archival and recordkeeping research - past,
present and future. In K. Williamson & G. Johanson (Eds.), Research
methods: information systems, and contexts (pp. 79-112). Prahran, Victoria:
Tilde Publishing.
McLeod, J. (2010). Development of RMJ - a mirror of the development of the
profession and discipline of records management. Records Management
Journal, 20(1), 9-40.
136
McLeod, J., Childs, S., & Hardiman, R. (2010). AC+erm project - Final project report
Available from
http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/er
m/
Merriam, S. B. (1994). Fallstudien som forskningsmetod. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Mid Sweden University (2013). Records Management for Registrars Retrieved 14
July 2013, from
http://www.miun.se/sv/Soksida/?quicksearchquery=registrator
Millar, L. (Ed.). (2009). Glossary of terms - training in electronic records management
(1/2009 ed.). London: International Records Management Trust.
Ministry of Enterprise; Energy; and Communications (2012, 10 February 2013).
Presentation of the Swedish e-Goverment strategy Retrieved 17 December,
2012, from
http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/7184/fromdepartment/1470/page/4
Ministry of Justice (2006). Personal data protection - information on the personel data
act. from http://www.government.se/sb/d/6158/a/74365.
Ministry of Justice (2009). Public access to information and secrecy Act - Information
concerning public access to information and secrecy legislation, etc. Retrieved 23
October 2013. from http://www.government.se/sb/d/3288/a/19564.
Molander, A., & Terum, L. I. (2008). Profesjonsstudier - en introduksjon. In A.
Molander & L. I. Terum (Eds.), Profesjonsstudier (pp. 13-27). Oslo:
Universitetsförlaget AS.
Montin, S. (2007). Moderna kommuner (3:2 ed.). Malmö: Liber AB.
Myers, M. D. (2009). Qualitative Research in Business & Management. Thousands
Oaks, California: SAGE Publications Inc.
Mäkinen, S. (2013). 'Some records manager will take care of it' - records
management in the context of mobile work. Journal of Information Science,
39(3), 384-396.
National Archives of Australia (2013). Glossary. Retrieved 5 April 2013. from
http://www.naa.gov.au/records-management/publications/glossary.aspx.
National Archives of Finland (2012). Strategy 2015 Retrieved 18 April, 2012, from
http://www.arkisto.fi/en/arkistolaitos/tehtavat/,
National Archives of Sweden (2012). Information about the organisation Retrieved
18 April, 2012, from
http://www.riksarkivet.se/default.aspx?id=1221&refid=1179
Nesmith, T. (2002). Seeing archives: postmodernism and the changing intellectual
place of archives. The American Archivist 65(1), 24-41.
Nesmith, T. (2004). What´s history got to do with it?: reconsidering the place of
historical knowledge in archival work. Archivaria, 57, 1-27.
Nilsson, N. (1978). Arkivkunskap. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Nilsson, N. (1986). Att hitta i arkiven. Stockholm: Liber distribution.
137
Oliver, G., Chawner, B., & Liu, H. P. (2011). Implementing digital archives: issues
of trust. Archival Science, 11(3-4), 311-327.
Owens, A. R. (2013). Exploring the benefits of contact centre offshoring: a study of
trends and and practices for the Australian business sector. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-17.
Parsons, T. (1978). Research with human subjects and the 'professional complex'
Action, theory and the human condition (pp. 35-65). New York: The Free
Press.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. London: Sage
Publications, Ltd.
Pearce-Moses, R. (2005). A glossary of archival and records terminology. Retrieved 12
August 2013. from http://www2.archivists.org/glossary.
Pearce-Moses, R. (2006). Janus in cyberspace: archives on the threshold of the
digital era. 6. Retrieved from
http://www.archivists.org/governance/presidential/pearce-moses.asp
Pederson, A. (2005). Processing archives: a very human enterprise. In S.
McKemmish, M. Piggott, B. Reed & F. Upward (Eds.), Archives:
recordkeeping in society (pp. 51-74). Wagga Wagga New South Wales: Centre
for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Pederson, A. E. (2003). Understanding ourselves and others: Australian archivists
and temperament. Archival Science, 3(3), 223-274.
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2011). Public management reform - a comparative analysis -
new public management, governance and the neo-weberian state (3 ed.). Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Posner, E. (1940). Some aspects of archival development since the French
Revolution. American Archivist, 3(3, July 1940), 159-172.
Posner, E. (1972). Archives in the Ancient World. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press.
Procter, M. (2010). What´s an 'archivist'? Some nineteenth-century perspectives.
Journal of the Society of Archivists, 31(1), 15-27.
Public access to information and secrecy act SFS 2009:400.
RA-FS 2008:4. Riksarkivets föreskrifter om ändring i Riksarkivets Föreskrifter och
allmänna råd (RA-FS 1991:1) om arkiv hos statliga myndigheter
RA-FS 2009:1. Riksarkivets föreskrifter och allmänna råd om elektroniska handlingar
(upptagningar för automatiserad behandling)
RA-FS 2009:2. Riksarkivets föreskrifter och allmänna råd om tekniska krav för elektroniska
handlingar (upptagningar för automatiserad behandling)
Reed, B. (2005). Reading the records continuum: interpretations and explorations.
Archives and Manuscripts, Vol. 33(1), 18-43.
Reed, B. (2008). Service-oriented architectures and recordkeeping. Records
Management Journal, 18(1), 7-20.
138
Regeringskansliet (2008). Handlingsplan för eFörvaltning. from
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/12960/a/142001.
Ridener, J. (2009). From polders to postmodernism - a concise history of archival theory.
Duluth: Litwin Books, LLC.
Riege, A. M. (2003). Validity and reliability tests in case study research: a literature
review with "hands-on" applications for each research phase. Qualitative
Market Research: An International Journal, 6(2), 75-86.
Riksarkivet (2010). Rapport rörande enkätundersökning - myndigheters hantering av
elektroniska handlingar. Stockholm: Riksarkivet.
Runardotter, M. (2007). Information technology, archives and archivists - and long-
term digital preservation. Arkiv, samhälle och forskning, 2, 26-41.
Runardotter, M., Quisbert, H., Nilsson, J., Hägerfors, A., & Mirijamsdotter, A.
(2006). The information life cycle - issues in long-term digital preservation.
Arkiv, samhälle och forskning, 2006:1, 17-29.
Ryan, D. (2010). What is the essence of records management? Records Management
Journal, 20(1), 117-123.
Saarenheimo, J. (1997). Clio eller Mnemosynes tjänare? De västerländska arkivens
uppfattning om sin uppgift och roll under olika tider. Arkiv, Samhälle och
Forskning, 1997:2, 57-71.
Sahlén, T. (2005). Kaos eller struktur - Om modern dokumenthantering. In A.
Sundqvist (Ed.), Dokumentstyrning i processorienterade organisationer (pp. 7-
55). Örebro: Näringslivets Arkivråd (NLA).
Saks, M. (2012). Defining a profession: the role of knowledge and expertise.
Professions & Professionalism, 2(1), 1-10.
Samuelsson, G. (2007). Revolution som spränger arkiven i bitar. In L. Andersson
Palm & M. Sjöberg (Eds.), Historia. Vänbok till Christer Winberg 5 juni 2007
(pp. 261-272). Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet.
Schellenberg, T. R. (1956). Modern archives, principles and techniques. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Selander, S. (1989). Kampen om yrkesutövning, status och kunskap. Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
SFS 1949:105. Freedom of the Press Act.
SFS 1974:152. Swedish Constitution.
SFS 1986:223. Administrative Procedure Act.
SFS 1990:782. Archives Act.
SFS 1991:446. Archives Ordinance.
SFS 1991:900. Local Goverment Act.
SFS 1992:1434. Higher Education Act.
SFS 1998:204. Personal Data Act
SFS 2009:400. Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
SFS 2009:641. Public Access to Information and Secrecy Ordinance
SFS 2010:566. Public Sector Information Act.
139
Shepherd, E. (2006). Why are records in the public sector organizational assets?
Records Management Journal, Vol. 16. No. 1., 6-12.
Shepherd, E. (2009). Culture and evidence: or what good are the archives? Archives
and archivists in twentieth century England. Archival Science, 9(3), 173-185.
Shepherd, E., Stevenson, A., & Flinn, A. (2009). The impact of freedom of
information on records management and record use in local government: a
literature review. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 30(2 ), 227-248.
Shepherd, E., & Yeo, G. (2003). Managing records a handbook of principles and practice.
London: Facet publishing.
Shumsky, R. A., & Pinker, E. J. (2003). Gatekeepers and referrerals in services.
Management Science, 49(7, July), 839-856.
Skirbekk, G., & Gilje, N. (1995). Filosofins historia. Göteborg: Daidalos AB.
Slagstad, R. (2001). De nasjonale strateger. Oslo: Pax Förlag.
Slagstad, R. (2006). Kunnskapens hus (1 ed.). Oslo: Pax Förlag.
SOU 1988:11 (1988). Öppenhet och minne - Arkivens roll i samhället.
SOU 1999:138 (1999). Från callcenter till kontaktcenter - trender, möjligheter och
problem.
SOU 2002:78 (2002). Arkiv för alla - nu och i framtiden.
SOU 2002:97 (2002). Ordning och reda bland allmänna handlingar.
SOU 2004:56 (2004). E-tjänster för alla.
SOU 2005:119 (2005). E-tjänster för ett enklare och öppnare samhälle.
SOU 2009:86 (2009). Strategi för myndigheternas arbete med e-förvaltning.
SOU 2010:4 (2010). Allmänna handlingar i elektronisk form - offentlighet och integritet.
SOU 2010:20 (2010). Så enkelt som möjligt för så många som möjligt - från strategi till
handling för e-förvaltning.
SOU 2010:62 (2010). Så enkelt som möjligt för så många som möjligt. Under konstruktion
- framtidens e-förvaltning. .
SOU 2011:9 (2011). Barnen som samhället svek - åtgärder med anledning av övergrepp
och allvarliga försummelser i samhällsvården.
SOU 2011:27 (2011). Så enkelt som möjligt för så många som möjligt - En bit på väg.
SOU 2011:38 (2011). Ett myndighetsgemensamt servicecenter.
Stenlås, N., & Hasselberg, Y. (2010). Professionernas uttåg ur kunskapssamhället.
Tvärsnytt, 4. Retrieved from
http://tvarsnitt.vr.se/huvudmeny/tvarsnittnr42010/essaprofessionernasutta
gurkunskapssamhallet.4.56ec518312c85b30aa280003556.html
Sterner Varnestig, L. (2012). Förstudie mina fullmakter. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
from http://www.edelegationen.se/Nationella-
projekt/Forvaltningsgemensamma-tjanster/Min-arendeoversikt/.
Strandberg, C., Sandberg, Å., & Norman, K. (2006). Call centers i Sverige: en
beskrivning av verksamhetsinriktning, human resource-metoder och prestationer.
Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet
140
Sundqvist, A. (2009). Search processes, user behavior and archival representational
systems. Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall.
Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (2009). Democratic levels in
Sweden Retrieved 21 September, 2009, from
http://www.skl.se/artikel.asp?A=48688&C=6393
Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (2010). Retrieved 10
August, 2010, from http://www.skl.se/web/e-forvaltning.aspx
Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (2013). About SALAR
Retrieved 19 September, 2013, from http://english.skl.se/about_salar
Swedish Committee on the Constitution (2012). Granskning av statsrådens
tjänsteutövning och regeringsärendenas handläggning.
Swedish National Service Centre (2012). Retrieved 11 September, 2012, from
http://www.statenssc.se/Pages/default.aspx
Swedish Standards Institute (2009). SS-EN 15838:2009, European standard on
contact centres: Swedish Standards Institute.
Swedish Standards Institute (2013). Kundkontaktcenter Retrieved 24 July, 2013,
from http://www.sis.se/sociologi-service-företagsorganisation-och-ledning-
och-administration/tjänster/tjänster-för-konsumenter/sis-tk-503
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2008). "Mäta och rita kartan" som leder vägen
mot en modern förvaltning. Stockholm: Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting.
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2011). Kommungruppsindelning 2011. Retrieved
10 October 2013. from
http://www.skl.se/kommuner_och_landsting/fakta_om_kommuner/komm
ungruppsindelning.
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2012a). e-Samhället Retrieved 13 March, 2012,
from http://www.skl.se/vi_arbetar_med/e-samhallet
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2012b). Kort om kommuner, landsting och
regioner. Retrieved 19 October 2013. from
http://webbutik.skl.se/sv/artiklar/kort-om-kommuner-landsting-och-
regioner.html.
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2013a). Center för eSamhället (CeSam)
Retrieved 8 july, 2013, from
http://www.skl.se/om_skl/kansliorganisation/center-for-esamhallet
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2013b). Digitala vägen till morgondagens välfärd -
Handlingsplan för e-samhället 2013-2015.
Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (2013c). Kommuner, landsting och regioner
Retrieved 23 September, 2013, from
http://www.skl.se/web/kommuner_och_landsting.aspx
Thomassen, T. (2001). A first introduction to archival science. Archival Science, 1(4),
373-385.
Torstendahl, R., & Burrage, M. (Eds.). (1990). The formation of professions - knowledge,
state and strategy: SAGE Publications Ltd.
141
Trace, C. B. (2002). What is recorded is never simply 'what happened': record
keeping in modern organizational culture. Archival Science, 2(1), 137-159.
Trost, J. (2005). Kvalitativa intervjuer. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2009). Report of the
expert group meeting, E-Government Survey: Getting to the Next Level. New
York: United Nations.
Upward, F. (2000). Modelling the continuum as paradigm shift in recordkeeping
and archiving processes, and beyond - a personal reflection. Records
Management Journal, 10(3), 115-139.
Upward, F. (2005). The records continuum. In S. McKemmish, M. Piggot, B. Reed &
F. Upward (Eds.), Archives: recordkeeping in society (pp. 197-222). Wagga
Wagga New South Wales: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt
University.
Upward, F., & McKemmish, S. (2006). Teaching recordkeeping and archiving
continuum style. Archival Science, 6, 219-230.
Upward, F., McKemmish, S., & Reed, B. (2011). Counterpoint - archivists and
changing social and information spaces: a continnum approach to
recordkeeping and archiving in online cultures. Archivaria, 72(Fall 2011),
197-237.
Waalwijk, H. (2010). Scholarship, literacy, wisdom, erudition, ....trick, deceit, fraud,
manslaughter and murder in a romanised profession. Arkiv, samhälle och
forskning, 2010(2), 28-44.
Valderhaug, G. (2011). Memory, justice and the public record. Archival Science,
11(1), 13-23.
Wallström, M. (2012). Konsekvensbeskrivning - Ärendeöversikt via brevlåda - Mina
meddelanden. Retrieved 12 July 2013. from
http://www.edelegationen.se/Nationella-
projekt/Forvaltningsgemensamma-tjanster/Min-arendeoversikt/.
Walsham, G. (1995). Interpretative case studies in IS research: nature and method.
Eur. J. Inf. Systs. , 4, 74-81.
Walsham, G. (2006). Doing interpretative research. European Journal of Information
Systems, 15, 320-330.
Valtonen, M. R. (2007). Documentation in pre-trial investigation, A study of using
the records continuum model as a records management tool. Records
Management Journal, 17(3), 179-185.
van Dijk, T. A. (Ed.). (2011). Discource studies: a multidisciplinary introduction (2 ed.).
Thousands Oaks, California: SAGE Publications Inc.
White-Dollmann, M. M. (2004). ISO 15489: a tool for records management mergers.
Information Management Journal, September/October.
Wikipedia (2013a). The Emperor's New Clothes Retrieved 11 September, 2013,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes
142
Wikipedia (2013b). Kommungränserna inom Sverige Retrieved 25 September, 2013,
from https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_kommuner
Winberg, G. (1996). Security implications on Swedish archive legislation. In P.
Skantze (Ed.), Essays on legal information management (pp. 168-181).
Stockholm: Stockholm University.
Worrall, L. (Ed.). (2011). Leading issues in e-government research: Academic
Publishing International Ltd, Reading, UK.
Yakel, E. (2000). Knowledge management: the archivist´s and records manager´s
perspective. The Information Management Journal, July 2000, 24-30.
Yakel, E. (2007). Archival representation. In F. X. Blouin Jr & W. G. Rosenberg
(Eds.), Archives, documentation and institutions of social memory - essays from
the Sawyer seminar (pp. 151-163). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research, design and methods (4 ed.). London: SAGE.
Zander, S., & Källström, E. (2012). Motion 2012/13:Kr337 Modernisera arkivlagen.
Retrieved 23 October 2013. from http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/Dokument-
Lagar/Forslag/Motioner/Modernisera-arkivlagen_H002Kr337/.